Team Dead-Last
by Muledragon
Summary: For the new batch of Academy graduates, the Hokage decides to abandon the tradition of putting the top genin and dead-last together on a team. As a result, Naruto finds himself on a team with fellow dead-lasts and failures. Under the tutelage of their unorthodox sensei, Naruto and his new teammates must learn to survive and thrive in the brutal and unforgiving shinobi world.
1. A Team of Losers

**Team Dead-Last**

 **Ch.1: A Team of Losers**

* * *

Iruka Umino, Chunin instructor at the Konohagakure Shinobi Academy, walked steadily down the hallway of the academy toward his waiting classroom. Within said classroom, he knew, more than two dozen newly christened Genin awaited his arrival, anticipating the announcement that would have a huge impact on their lives, and careers, going forward.

Today was the day.

Just a week ago the young then-trainees had taken and (mostly) passed the examination to become Genin, been granted their hitai-ate, and proclaimed true shinobi of Konohagakure. Today though, was a day just as significant, the day their careers truly began. Today the new Genin would be split up into groups of three and placed on their first teams along with their Jonin instructors. Not many Genin squads stayed together for their entire careers, and some didn't even stay together particularly long, but even so, as their first taste of real shinobi life, who one's teammates and sensei were, and what sort of team you formed, almost inevitably had a profound impact on their entire futures as ninja.

And that was precisely why Iruka was so troubled.

Once again he glanced down at the paper resting on the clipboard in his hand. The team assignments listed on the sheet were not at all what he had been expecting. Of course, it wasn't his job to make the assignments. The instructors at the academy very carefully noted the strengths, weaknesses, and overall skills of each of their students, and on occasion would make a recommendation as to which students they thought worked well together, but in the end the job of choosing the teams and assigning Jonin sensei went to the Hokage and the Elder Council. It was, of course, an incredibly important duty, and that was why each student was carefully reviewed, each team carefully constructed to create the optimal environment for each Genin to grow and reach their maximum potential as shinobi of Konoha.

Unfortunately, that knowledge served only to confuse Iruka further at this point. Unlike in previous years, he couldn't follow the logic of these team assignments at all. Not that he thought that all of those placed together were completely incompatible, but it seemed as though the elders had chosen to completely ignore the traditions and customs that had been followed when creating teams in years past.

For instance, he knew that members of the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans were often placed on teams together, and when three members of said clans all graduated together, they were practically guaranteed to be placed in a genin squad together, so that they could continue the tradition of the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho formation that had been proven effective time and again over the years. For that matter, the fathers of the three in his class were known as having formed the most legendary instance of that trio in the village's history. And yet, in spite of that, all three had been placed on completely different teams from one another.

Not only that, but the long-held tradition of placing the highest scoring graduate of the genin exam on a team with the lowest scoring graduate had also been broken. Not that he had a huge problem with that tradition being skipped in this particular case. Knowing who the two said students in question were, he shuddered to think what sort of team they would have formed.

Even so, though. In the past, the goal when forming teams had always been for them to be roughly even in terms of talent when leaving the Academy. Those who struggled were deliberately paired with those who excelled, in order to balance them out. This year, though, a completely different paradigm had evidently been followed. He saw a few teams, in fact, that seemed very heavily stacked with talent, while certain others were filled with students who ranked low in their Academy scores.

 _The Hokage wouldn't deliberately sacrifice the low-ranking students to give the others a chance to get even further ahead, would he?_ Iruka's mind buzzed worriedly. _No, not the Sandaime. If he formed these teams, he must have a plan for them._

Regardless, that was neither here nor there. It wasn't his job to question the Hokage's decisions. His last remaining duty for this class was to inform them of their new teams. After that, they would cease to be his students any longer.

Shaking his head to clear away these thoughts, Iruka focused on what was ahead of him. Arriving at the door to his classroom, wherein he could hear the chatter from the anxiously awaiting genin inside, he pushed open the door and stepped into the room.

His eyes swept over the room, taking in the sight of the twenty-seven graduates one last time. He paused for moment as his gaze settled on a brightly orange-garbed genin seated in the middle of the room, and he briefly allowed a small, proud smile to grace his features. Said genin, Naruto Uzumaki, smiled back widely, and proudly adjusted the forehead protector perched on his head, Iruka's own former headband.*1

Refocusing on the task at hand, Iruka cleared his throat and addressed the rest of the class. "Alright everyone, quiet down." The class settled down very quickly, all eyes in the room turning to the man who had instructed them in the ways of the shinobi for the past several years. "As you all know, today is your last day here at the academy. From here on you are all full-fledged ninjas of the Hidden Leaf Village. That said, you're only genin, you still have a lot left to learn. Today you will be assigned into squads of three, and placed under the command of a jonin sensei. This jonin will be both your teacher and your commanding officer. You will carry out missions in service to the village alongside your commander and your fellow genin teammates. It is vital that you not only continue to sharpen your individual skills, but that you also learn to effectively collaborate with your fellow Leaf shinobi!"

At this, all the young ninjas began glancing around the room at their fellow genins. Within their minds, each of them was already imagining their ideal teammates.

 _Hm, the first would definitely be Sakura-chan. As for the other… I don't really care, so long as it's not Sasuke!_ *2

 _Troublesome. I have a feeling I already know who my teammates are, anyway._

 _Tch, groups of three? They'll just get in my way._

 _CHA! I have definitely got to be in a group with Sasuke-kun!_ (A variation of this was thought by nearly every girl in the room, except one.)

Having paused for a moment to let the point sink in, Iruka continued, arriving at the critical point of the meeting. "And with that, I will now announce the team assignments." Raising the clipboard up in front of him, he began reading the names of the first team listed on the page, "First off, Team One will be Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shikamaru Nara. Your jonin-sensei will be Kurenai Yuuhi."

This announcement was met immediately with a wide range of reactions from the three whose names had been called first.

Shikamaru's eyebrows rose minutely in an expression of surprise. _Well, I honestly didn't see that one coming._ It was rare for him to be wrong about something like this. He had been fairly certain he would be teamed up with the children of his father's own former teammates. He, Ino Yamanaka, and his childhood friend Chouji Akimichi, had known one another for years, and even been trained by their fathers on how to combine their clan's jutsu to form the legendary Ino-Shika-Cho formation. It seemed almost odd that that would be disregarded now. It tickled the inquisitive part of Shikamaru's brain that there was information here he was missing, while the sentimental part of his mind was saddened that he wouldn't be on a team with Chouji.

Shaking himself from these thoughts, Shikamaru refocused on the current situation. _I'll have to worry about that later,_ he thought. _For now, I should focus on who my teammates actually are._ Glancing around the room he caught sight of his two new squadmates. Kiba was an alright guy, if a bit noisy and a braggart. Sakura, on the other hand… _Ino's best friend. Or I guess I should say former best friend. Smart, but in many ways just as troublesome as Ino is. Not likely to be well disposed toward either me or Kiba. And Kiba doesn't take well to people disrespecting him. Hm… That could be trouble._ He put his head down on the desk and continued to think the situation through as Iruka droned on announcing the names of other teams.

Kiba, for his part, was fairly neutral overall about his new teammates. _Shikamaru's alright, even if he is a bit of a lazy dick. Sakura though, she's one of the idiots in the Sasuke fan-club. Lame._

Sakura's reaction was by far the worst of the three. _NOOOO! How can I not be on a team with Sasuke-kun!? Even worse, I'm on a team with the lazy slacker and the dog boy!_ Shikamaru and Kiba, she knew, were among the few students in class to occasionally hang out with Naruto, and that, as far as she was concerned, automatically made them almost as bad by association. She paused on thinking that. _On the other hand, at least I'm not on a team with Naruto himself, so I'm not on the worst team here. Silver lining, Sakura, silver lining!_

Though most were focused on the names that Iruka continued to call, a few other students also reacted to the first team to be named.

 _Ha! Forehead girl got put on a team with Shikamaru and Kiba? That's priceless!_

 _Aw man! Now I won't be able to be on a team with Sakura-chan._

Continuing through the list of teams steadily, Iruka announced the next set of squad mates, "Team Five will be Shino Aburame, Ino Yamanaka, and Sasuke Uchiha. Your jonin-sensei will be Kakashi Hatake."

This announcement was met with no outward reaction from the two boys in question. Meanwhile, Ino leapt out of her chair and pumped both fists into the air, "YES! True love conquers all!" She said, completely ignoring the glares being sent her way from the majority of the class's females.

 _NOOO!_ Inner Sakura wailed. _It's not fair! Why her and not me!?_

 _Oh well, at least that means I definitely won't be on a team with that jerk Sasuke. Silver lining, Naruto, silver lining!_

As Iruka continued listing the names of the teams, Naruto's expression slowly turned to a frown. His name still hadn't been called yet. After a while, Iruka finished calling the names of the first eight teams, leaving only one team remaining. Naruto looked around the room at all his fellow genin. The fact that his name hadn't been called yet meant that he would have to be on this final team. Unfortunately, he hadn't been paying close enough attention to all the names being called to know which of his former classmates were left to be on his team.

"Finally, Team Nine will be Chouji Akimichi, Naruto Uzumaki, and Hinata Hyuuga. Your jonin-sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi. "

Naruto looked around again as he thought about his teammates' names. Chouji he knew, and could easily see sitting at the front of the class merrily eating his way through another bag of chips, but who was that other person, again? He was certain he knew them, but couldn't quite recall off the top of his head.

As he searched over the room Naruto's gaze was briefly met by a pair of pale, white eyes. Immediately after, the owner of said white eyes broke eye contact quickly, snapping her head down towards the desk she was sitting at and not meeting Naruto's gaze, her face rapidly turning crimson. At once the name clicked in Naruto's mind. _Oh right, that shy, dark, weird girl._ Naruto couldn't recall much else about the girl in question aside from that. He had seen her around plenty, but had never really interacted with her much.

Meanwhile Chouji, having had time to get over his disappointment at not being put on a team with his best friend Shikamaru, was sufficiently pleased with his team assignment. _Naruto and Hinata, huh? They're both pretty nice. This seems like a good team._

From her place in the middle row, Sakura turned to look from Naruto, to Chouji, and then finally to Hinata. Naruto had his usual dopey, clueless expression on his goofy face as he looked about the room. Chouji, in the meantime, was busily stuffing yet another bag of chips into his mouth, his face and shirt dusted with a fine layer of potato chip crumbs. At the moment Hinata was staring straight down at her desk, her eyes obscured by her bangs, apparently too shocked and horrified by her team assignment to do anything more than curl up in on herself. All at once Sakura felt a rush of pity for the shy girl. _Poor Hinata! Bad enough she gets stuck on a team with Naruto, but her only other teammate is that gross fatty? That's almost too cruel!_ Subconsciously Sakura was also beginning to feel a little better about her own team. Kiba and Shikamaru weren't great, but they weren't that bad by a long shot!*3

Unbeknownst to Sakura, Hinata's feelings on her team were anything but what she suspected. Currently Hinata's emotions were fluctuating very rapidly, in fact, unable to quite settle on whether to be happy or afraid. _I got put on a team with Naruto-kun! That means we'll be spending a lot of time together! But what if he doesn't want to be on a team with me? We'll get to go on missions together! But what if I end up getting in the way? Maybe we'll become friends! But what if he ends up thinking I'm weird…_

As Hinata's thoughts were bouncing back and forth between joy and trepidation, Iruka proceeded to wrap up the meeting. "Alright, and with that, you all have your team assignments. We'll reconvene here in one hour to be introduced to your new senseis. Feel free to use this time to eat lunch and get to know your new teams. Class dismissed!"

With that, the class broke up, the students all moving to meet up with their new teammates, the people they would be spending the majority of their time with for the foreseeable future.

Not to be bothered with such things, Sasuke got up from his seat and left the room, not sparing so much as a glance for his squad mates. Spotting him just before he exited the room, Ino quickly got up from her seat and chased after him, intent on spending her lunch hour getting closer to her new favorite teammate.

Shino rose more slowly from his seat, and cast about the room for the other members of Team Five, only to realize that they had both already left him behind. He let out a sigh that went unheard by all but himself. This didn't bode well.

* * *

As the other genin were moving around her, meeting with their new teams and heading out to lunch, Hinata was busily working up her courage. _Okay, time to meet with Naruto for the first time as teammates. I want to make a good impression, but I don't want to seem like I'm acting strange. I guess all I really need to do is act casual. That should be easy… right?_ And with that, Hinata raised her head up and prepared to stand and go meet with the boy she most admired…only to jump back and nearly fall out of her chair in shock. While she had been caught up in her own thoughts, Naruto had approached and was now standing directly in front of her.

"Ummm, so…hey," Naruto began awkwardly, attempting to strike up conversation with the strange girl. "I guess we're teammates now."

Hinata, still thrown off balance by Naruto's sudden appearance, could only stammer out a reply. "I...um...uh...y-yes."

"Hey guys!" Fortunately for both of them, Chouji chose that moment to arrive, a pleasant smile across his face. "So I guess we're teammates, huh? This seems like a pretty good team."

Naruto turned and reflected Chouji's smile back at him. Chouji, at least, was someone he knew how to get along with. "Yeah, you know it!" he said, more for the sake of agreeing than based on what he really thought, which he hadn't fully decided yet anyway.

Hinata, not wanting the others to think she disapproved, nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

"So anyway, since we have an hour, why don't we all go out to eat together? We can get barbecue!" Chouji said, smiling at his own cleverness. What better way to become friends than with food?

"No way, it's gotta be ramen! What could be better for a first team lunch?" Naruto countered immediately.

"Are you kidding me? Everybody knows barbecue is great for groups. It's delicious, and cooking and eating together is great for being social!"

"That may be so, but ramen is ramen! You can't beat that!"

Turning sharply suddenly, Chouji addressed the third member of the team. "Think about it, Hinata...Warm, juicy slices of beef and pork, slowly sizzling over a hot grill. The smell of meat being cooked to perfection. Tender meat and fat that just melts in your mouth the moment you take your first bite!"

Not to be outdone, Naruto turned to his female teammate as well. "Picture this Hinata! Warm, slippery noodles bathing in a bowl of thick, savory broth! The meat: beef, pork, chicken, or whatever you want, both adding to and absorbing flavor from the soup. All the ingredients, mixed together in one perfect bowl of complete deliciousness!"

 _Wait...They...They expect_ me _to decide!?_ Hinata, suddenly finding herself the center of attention as the deciding vote, was close to panicking. On the one hand, she very much wanted to go with what Naruto wanted, but at the same time it wouldn't be fair at all to poor Chouji if she was always agreeing with Naruto just because she idolized him. She didn't know what to do!

Before Hinata could even begin to come to a decision, Chouji's hands suddenly slammed down onto the table. "RAMEN IT IS!"

Naruto's fist pumped into the air. "Alright!"

 _Huh? He convinced him!?_

"Okay then, let's go to Ichiraku Ramen! Team Nine, ho!" Already marching towards the door, Naruto belatedly realized that he and Chouji had essentially made the decision of where to eat without getting their other teammate's input at all. Turning back around, he saw the girl still sitting down, wide-eyed and apparently still processing what was going on. "Oh, uh, I mean, is that alright with you, Hinata?"

Quickly standing up from her seat, Hinata rushed to respond in the affirmative, stumbling over her words a bit in the process. "Oh, I...no...I mean, yes...uh...that is, ramen is fine!"

"Alright then, it's settled," Chouji said, passing Naruto and making for the door, eager to get to lunch. The other two quickly followed.

Walking down the road toward Ichiraku Ramen stand, Hinata trailed slightly behind her two new teammates. Watching from behind, Hinata saw that Naruto had a big grin plastered on his face as he and Chouji happily discussed the fine points of ramen. Seeing that, Hinata couldn't help but grin a little too. She was glad to be on a team with Naruto, but more than that she was happy that Naruto was on a team with people who liked him. All too many of their classmates disparaged Naruto for the smallest of things, she would have hated to see Naruto be placed on a team with people who treated him poorly.

Arriving at the ramen stand, Naruto quickly hopped up onto one of the stools and called out for the owners. "Hey, Ayame-nee-san! Old man! You've got three customers here!"

Appearing from the back of the shop, the head chef's daughter, Ayame, greeted their favorite customer. "Hello Naruto-kun. Oh, Chouji-kun and Hinata-san are here too, how about that? Welcome."

This brought Naruto up short. "Wait, you know these two already?"

Ayame laughed at this. "We have other customers besides you Naruto. I see Chouji-kun in here all the time with his father, and Hinata-san drops by occasionally as well."

Though she didn't remember every customer she served, Chouji and Hinata were easy enough for Ayame to remember. Every restaurant in the village always did their best when catering to members of the Akimichi clan. They were loyal customers and always ate a lot, it was just good for business. The Hyuuga clan, on the other hand, rarely ever graced the likes of a humble ramen stand like theirs, so it was easy to remember the shy girl who occasionally dropped by for a bowl. Now that she thought about it, she had also subconsciously begun associating Hinata with Naruto, as the quiet girl for some reason always seemed to show up shortly after Naruto had left. Speaking of which…

"Now that I think about it, though," Ayame continued, "I don't think I've ever seen the three of you here together before."

"We just got put into a shinobi squad together," Chouji replied. "We're going to be teammates from now on."

"Ah, I see," Ayame responded. "Congratulations on becoming ninjas then, all of you. Anyway, what can I get for you three?"

"One bowl of pork ramen, one bowl of beef ramen, and one bowl of miso ramen please!" Naruto replied eagerly, before turning to his teammates, "What'll you guys have?"

"I'll have the same as Naruto," Chouji replied.

"Um, one bowl of miso ramen, please," Hinata said softly.

With a smile, Ayame turned to go find her father and fill the order. "Alright, coming right up!"

As they waited for their ramen to arrive, chatting about various topics to pass the time, Naruto felt his mood steadily getting better and better. He was impressed to find out that his two teammates had such good tastes. Anyone who liked ramen, especially Ichiraku ramen, was okay in his book. This team might turn out okay after all.

* * *

As team nine was enjoying their first team lunch together, another team lunch was not going nearly as well.

"I'm serious you guys! You better not slack off anymore!" Sakura's loud voice was already grating on her two teammates nerves.

"Shut up pinky!" Kiba snapped back at her between bites of his lunch. "No one cares what you think."

Sakura sighed in exasperation. "I'm honestly just trying to help. I can forgive a little goofing off in the academy, but we're shinobi now! You two can't afford to continue on like you have been."

Kiba sneered. "Shikamaru and I can handle ourselves. I'm more worried about how some stupid fangirl is going to make it in the real world."

Sakura's eyes widened in anger. "Why you…!"

Shikamaru sighed, doing his best to ignore his two loud teammates bickering and focus on his lunch. Sometimes it sucked being right so often. Just as he had predicted Sakura had taken it upon herself to try to take control and "straighten out" her two less studious teammates. And just as he had expected, Kiba was having none of it.

"Are you listening Shikamaru?" Somewhere in the midst of Shikamaru's musings the argument between Sakura and Kiba had come to a temporary halt, and Sakura had apparently resumed lecturing.

"Hm?" Shikamaru turned slightly to glance at the pink-haired girl.

"I was saying that the real shinobi world is completely different from class, you two need to understand that!" Sakura said, shaking her head. "If you two don't keep up with your training we'll end up in serious trouble!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes but replied resignedly. "Yes, yes. Whatever you say el-capitán."

Sakura sighed deeply once more. "I swear Shikamaru, sometimes it's like you take pride in being the laziest person around."

"I _do_ take pride in it."

Sakura groaned. She definitely had her work cut out for her.

* * *

An hour after they had been dismissed, the newly promoted genin reassembled in their old classroom, this time sitting together with their new teammates. Some teams were already looking very friendly with one another, while others openly bickered or else sat in awkward silence.

Seated in the middle of the room Ino was doing her best to try to get Sasuke's attention. She had been unable to catch up to him at lunch, as he had vanished immediately after leaving the room, and she was determined to make up for lost time. For his part, Sasuke continued to ignore her.

Off to the side, Shino sat in disgruntled silence. He was by no means the most sociable of people, but even so, being so completely disregarded by both of his teammates didn't sit well with him at all. If nothing else it was insulting to say the least.

When the door to the room suddenly opened the conversations came to a stop and all eyes turned to the front. Iruka-sensei reentered the room, followed by several older ninjas wearing an assortment of shinobi gear. These, clearly, were the jonin they had been told to expect.

Getting the classes attention one final time, Iruka spoke up. "Alright everyone, this is it. When your commanding officer calls for your team you will leave with them. Best of luck to you all."

Immediately after Iruka finished speaking one of the jonin, a beautiful woman with dark hair and piercing red eyes, stepped forward and spoke. "Team one, you're with me. Let's go."

Not wasting any time, the woman turned and walked towards the door. Forcing down the trepidation they felt at finally really beginning their shinobi careers, Sakura, Kiba and Shikamaru rose and followed their sensei from the room.

One by one each team was called for and left along with their jonin-sensei, until eventually only two teams remained, Team Five and Team Nine. Curiously there was only one jonin left in the room: a large, gruff looking man with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Stepping forward the man spoke to the remaining genin. "Alright Team Nine, let's go. Oh, and Team Five..." he said, turning back briefly to address the remaining three with a small smirk. "...best settle in. You're in for a bit of a wait."

Rising from their seats, Naruto, Hinata, and Chouji shared brief looks of hesitation, the gravity of the moment finally fully dawning on them, before turning and quickly following their new sensei. Their lives as students had ended, and their lives as shinobi were about to begin.

* * *

As he led his new subordinates through the streets of Konoha towards the meeting place he had chosen, Asuma Sarutobi thought over his situation, and his new students, once more. When he had first received the packet of files detailing the team he would be leading he had been surprised and briefly suspicious, wondering if his father, the Hokage, was finally getting back at him for his years of obstinance in his youth.

He knew for a fact that when the Hokage and the elder council assigned new genin into teams, they always made an effort to place high-ranking and low-ranking students on teams together, in order to create teams that were roughly balanced with one another. In spite of this, all three of the students that had been assigned to him were ranked in the bottom third of class, not to even mention Naruto Uzumaki, the "special case" graduate, who had literally failed the graduation exam. At first glance it seemed as though the team he had been handed was composed of the left-overs of the class.

He sighed. On the other hand, he had reason to believe there was more to these kids than met the eye.

Both Hinata and Chouji had had the same note appended to the bottom of their files from the academy: "Does not perform according to potential". This implied that more than one instructor at the academy thought that they were capable of far more, but that one thing or another was holding both of them back from achieving their full potential.

As for Naruto, though, no such note had been attached to his file, and even the one teacher who thought that he was capable of more had freely admitted that Naruto deserved the grades he had got. That said, there was clearly something fishy about his situation as well. Asuma wasn't completely sure he believed _all_ of the story that was currently making the rounds amongst the village's jonin, about how Naruto had somehow snuck into the Hokage's office and stolen a forbidden scroll, and then learned an A-rank forbidden jutsu in a single night, which he then proceeded to use to defeat a chunin level ninja. But if even some of it were true, if the kid really could use the multi-shadow-clone jutsu, then it was definitely a strong indication that the boy's real potential was not accurately measured by his academy scores.

After a little more walking Asuma led his team up to the roof of a nearby building. Letting the three genin sit down, he turned to address them. "Alright, so from today on the four of us will be Team 9. For starters I'd like the three of you to introduce yourselves."

Sharing an uncertain glance with his teammates, Chouji was the first to respond. "Introduce ourselves? You mean like, just tell you our names?"

Taking a cigarette and lighter from out of his flak jacket, Asuma shrugged. "Your names, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies...stuff like that." Lighting up, he took a drag on the cigarette and then exhaled the smoke right into his student's faces, which left all three of them coughing and attempting to wave away the smoke.

After recovering somewhat, Hinata spoke up. "Um, S-Sensei...m-maybe you should go first, so we know what to say, and since we don't really...know you…"

"Hey yeah!" Naruto interjected, pointing at Asuma. "You're supposed to introduce yourself first!"

"Me? Alright, fine. My name is Asuma Sarutobi. My likes are…" he trailed off, picturing a beautiful kunoichi with blood-red eyes. "...Uh, my dislikes are…" his mind conjured up an image of his father and older brother staring at him disapprovingly.*4 "...My dreams for the future…" the same red-eyed kunoichi dressed in a snow-white dress and veil. "Uhh...Oh! My hobbies include playing shogi and go."

The three genin stared back at their teacher blankly. _All he told us was his name and that he likes playing board games!_

"Anyway, one of you go next," Asuma said as prepared to listen to his student's introductions. While he had read all the materials about his students the academy had provided him with, it was one thing to read an evaluation about someone and another to actually get to know that person. These introductions would help him to learn a little bit about his student's personalities. "How about you orange-boy?"

"Alright, fine!" Naruto responded enthusiastically, "My name's Naruto Uzumaki. I like eating instant ramen, but I really like eating the ramen from Ichiraku Ramen Stand. I dislike waiting the three minutes it takes for instant ramen to heat up. My hobbies include trying and comparing different kinds of ramen. My dream for the future is to become the greatest of all the hokages! So I'm going to get the entire village to respect me and acknowledge my existence!"

Asuma's eyebrow went up minutely. _So the village outcast wants to become Hokage, huh? Interesting._ On a certain level it made sense. He knew that the typical response most people in the village had to the jinchuuriki was to shun him, so becoming the most recognized ninja in the village probably seemed like the ideal goal. On the other hand it was also possible he had that goal due to his relationship with the current Hokage. Asuma knew that his father had taken a special interest in the boy. Whatever the case, it certainly wasn't the worst way he could think of for the boy to deal with his isolation.

More interesting though was the reaction of his teammates to his proclamation. Normally such a bold claim being made by the dead-last in the class would be an invitation for mockery and ridicule, but neither of Naruto's teammates seemed interested in doing so. For his part Chouji did look a bit skeptical, but didn't say anything to demean Naruto's goals. Hinata though didn't seem skeptical at all. Instead she stared at Naruto, seemingly enraptured. Her eyes, which usually tended to look down at the ground, were raised and her face was clearly visible. The corners of her lips were twitching up in a small smile and her gaze was filled with genuine admiration. Asuma filed away that interesting little tidbit for future reference.

Moving right along, Asuma turned to Hinata. "Okay, you next."

As soon as the attention of the entire team was on her, Hinata immediately began shrinking in on herself. "Uh, um...M-my name is Hinata Hyuuga. Um, I like...c-cinnamon rolls and... people who never give up. Um, I dislike people who are mean to others for no reason. My hobby is flower pressing...and my dream for the future is to be a worthwhile shinobi." By the time she had finished speaking her voice had weakened to the point where it could just barely be heard by the others present. Her head tilted forward such that her bangs covered her eyes and she had begun pressing her index fingers together in what looked like a nervous motion.

Asuma sighed. This was going to be trouble, he was sure of it. Her goal for the future was very telling. She aimed to be a "worthwhile" shinobi. Her highest aspiration was not to be great, but simply someone who was worthwhile. _This girl's confidence is shot, and her sense of self-worth is practically non-existent. Pretty sure I know why that is too…_

As it happened, Hinata Hyuuga was the one of the three he knew the most about already. This was due to his girlfriend Kurenai, who had been assigned as a caretaker to the girl many years earlier as a chunin. During that time Kurenai had developed a sisterly relationship with the erstwhile Hyuuga heiress. He knew for a fact that Kurenai had been most disappointed not to get the girl on her team, and she had made him promise that he would take care of her, something easier said than done in his opinion.

Hinata's treatment by the rest of her clan was a subject that Kurenai was wont to rant about angrily when she was in a bad mood. Not that Asuma couldn't understand that. She had told him the story of her first meeting with the girl wherein her father, Hiashi Hyuuga, the leader of the Hyuuga clan, had openly stated that he didn't care what became of his eldest daughter. He went on to say that since she was useless to the Hyuuga clan she may as well try to make some use for herself by serving the village as a standard shinobi. Worst of all was the fact that he said all of this fully within the hearing of Hinata herself. While Asuma didn't exactly have the best relationship with his own father, he couldn't even begin to imagine being treated in such a way by his own family. It was no wonder the girl had zero confidence.

That was a problem for another day though. For the time being his only response was to nod and move on down the line. "And, finally…" he said, looking at Chouji.

Chouji's face broke into another smile. "Hey, I'm Chouji Akimichi. I like my family, barbecue, ramen, sushi…" he then proceeded to name a dozen different kinds of food, "...and my friend, Shikamaru. My dislikes are waiting to be served at a restaurant and people who make fun of others. My favorite hobby is trying out new foods and new ways of cooking meat. My dream for the future is to become a good man like my dad!"

Asuma couldn't help but notice how himself and his two other students winced slightly at the same time on Chouji's last statement. He held back another sigh. _Well, at least one person on this team has a good relationship with his father._

As he thought about Chouji's responses, Asuma's mind wandered back to the note in Chouji's academy file. _Hm, unlike Hinata he doesn't_ seem _to be completely lacking in confidence. On the other hand he did mention not liking people who made fun of others. Some self-confidence issues due to being teased in his childhood over his weight? Possibly._

Asuma took another long drag from his cigarette before speaking once more. "So, to summarize, my students are a glutton, a wallflower, and an idiot, huh?"

Naruto's face screwed up in confusion. "What's a wallflower?"

Chouji replied. "It's someone who's way too shy and doesn't get along well in public."

"Oh, I see..." Naruto responded. Based on that, sensei had to be talking about Hinata. "...Hey! Wait a minute! Just because I eat a lot of ramen doesn't mean I'm a glutton!" he said angrily.

"Um, I, I think Sensei was talking about Chouji-kun, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata interjected softly.

"Oh…" Naruto was quiet for several seconds, before leaping to his feet and pointing angrily at Asuma. "HEY! Who are you calling an idiot!?"

Asuma rolled his eyes. _That took way too long for him to figure out._

Chouji was also on his feet at this point. "A glutton, huh? Are you calling me...Fat!?"

Sighing, Asuma walked up to his students, put his hands on top of their heads, and with just a little bit of force easily forced them back into a sitting position. "Easy kiddies. I'm the jonin here, that means I can say what I want about you three, and you just have to deal with it. Got it?"

Naruto and Chouji, though still annoyed, both silently nodded their heads. They had both felt the immense amount of power behind their sensei's push. At that moment, the same thought was going through both their heads. _This guy is insanely strong!_

Naruto though, being Naruto, was not about to let the situation go completely without saying something. "Aren't you supposed to be our sensei, though? What kind of teacher talks smack about his students?"

Asuma puffed on his cigarette some more, "The me kind of teacher does. In any case, I'm still not completely sure I'm going to be you guy's sensei at all. You still haven't passed the final hurdle to becoming genin just yet."

All three of his student's attention was caught immediately by this statement. They stared at him wide-eyed with shock and confusion.

Naruto, of course, was the first to speak up. "Huh!? What are you talking about? We already passed the genin exam!"

Asuma shook his head. "The academy exam is just to determine who has the potential to become genin. It's up to the jonin-sensei themselves to decide whether or not the teams they were given have what it takes to become real shinobi. And to be perfectly honest, I'm not confident in you guys at all."

Naruto responded to this passionately. "What!? We totally have what it takes! What's wrong with us?"

"Well, for starters all three of you were ranked near the bottom of your graduating class. Especially a certain someone who was dead-last."

The three genin all reacted differently to this. Hinata put her head down once more and stared at the ground in shame, her bangs falling forward to cover her eyes. Chouji looked chagrined, and Naruto looked caught somewhere between embarrassment and anger, either way his face was very red.

Asuma took the used cigarette from his mouth and dropped it to the ground. "So anyway, if I wanted to I could send you all back to the academy right now on my authority. That's my prerogative as jonin-sensei."

His students all looked highly alarmed at this point, and Naruto looked like he might jump up again.

"That said, I'm going to give you guys a chance to prove yourselves and change my mind."

Naruto finally settled down, and stared back at Asuma grimly. "What exactly do we have to do?"

Asuma stepped on his dropped cigarette to put it out, and replied casually. "We have a mission tomorrow. A sort of...exercise. Meet me tomorrow at the south gate of the village at 8 am. Bring standard mission gear, and don't be late."

With this final proclamation, Asuma put his hands together in a seal and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 _A/N:_

 _Thanks for reading this far. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a review. Even just a few words would be highly appreciated._

 _You may have noticed I left a few note markers throughout the chapter. Any points within the story that I feel I want to clarify outside the narrative itself will be included in notes at the bottom of the chapter as follows:_

 _(*1). Everything that happened prior to the start of this fic can be assumed to align with canon._

 _(*2). There are multiple points in this chapter where we hear a character's thoughts, but I don't specify every time who is thinking. I tried to use certain queues within the thoughts themselves to clue in the reader as to whose thoughts are being revealed (like "troublesome" and such). Please let me know if it's not clear enough, though._

 _(*3). Sakura acts like a bit of a bitch in this chapter. Just to be clear, this will most definitely_ _ **not**_ _be a bashing fic. This is just my honest interpretation of this character at this stage in the story. At the start of the series Sakura is, in my view, simply a naive, shallow little girl (much the same could probably be said for Ino). She grows later, obviously, but it requires a series of wakeup calls._

 _(*4). Asuma doesn't hate his family, he just has a bit of a rocky relationship with them. Asuma's backstory in the series shows that he was sort of the rebellious child of his family._

 _Regards,_

 _MD_


	2. Exercise

**Ch.2: Exercise**

* * *

It was just barely light out when Hinata arrived at the village's southern gate. There was a light fog on the ground and even the sky was rendered gray by the dull light of the sun that had just barely begun to rise over the horizon. Even so, Hinata could tell by the mostly cloudless sky that the day would heat up quickly, and probably end up being a warm one. Not too hot she hoped.

Stopping at a bench just a short way away from the gate, Hinata sat down and settled in for a long wait. She was more than an hour early for the time Asuma-sensei had specified. She had spent the previous night tossing and turning, trying to get as much rest as possible despite her anxiety over the upcoming test. After waking up a couple of hours before the test was to begin she had given up on getting any more sleep and had decided to just go ahead and go to the meeting place early.

More than half an hour passed before the next member of Team 9 arrived. Chouji had also elected to arrive at the meeting place more than half an hour ahead of schedule, not wanting to risk being even a little late after Asuma-sensei's dire warning the previous day.

The two greeted each other a bit hesitantly, both clearly nervous about what was to come.

"So...you got here pretty early," Chouji commented. "Couldn't sleep well?"

Hinata silently shook her head.

Chouji chuckled, "Yeah, me neither. I'm really freaking out about this 'exercise' Asuma-sensei's got planned for us."

"I...I wonder if Naruto-kun got enough sleep…" Hinata said, looking back towards the village with a slightly worried expression.

"Ha! That guy? He's probably sound asleep right now! I bet he'll show up fifteen minutes late, still wearing his sleeping cap."

Hinata opened her mouth to protest, but had to close it. She may have admired Naruto, but even she had to admit that he didn't always feel the pressure when it was appropriate.

Another half hour passed, and Naruto didn't show up. Hinata was beginning to get seriously worried. There was hardly any time left before the deadline. Their sensei himself hadn't shown up yet, but she was afraid of what would happen if he arrived to find that Naruto still wasn't there. When talking to them yesterday, Asuma-sensei had implied that he could send them right back to academy whenever he saw fit. She would hate to see Naruto get sent back to the academy for such a reason after he had tried so hard to graduate.

A few more minutes passed, and finally Hinata and Chouji heard someone approaching from the distance. Specifically, someone was shouting, "I oversleeeeept!"

A moment later Naruto burst onto the scene in a streak of orange. Huffing and puffing and supporting himself with his hands on his knees, he gasped out, "Did I...huff...did I make it!?"

"Well, I stand corrected," Chouji said. "One minute to spare."

Suddenly a voice spoke up from behind them, "Good, you're all here."

The three genin nearly jumped out of their skins. Turning sharply they saw that their sensei was somehow standing right behind them already smoking a freshly lit cigarette.

Hinata was particularly chagrined. She hadn't even detected his approach! Even if she had been focused on Naruto, for a member of the Hyuuga clan to be so easily snuck up on was embarrassing. She hung her head. This was exactly why her father had no time to waste on her.

Naruto recovered quickly. Pointing boldly at Asuma he shouted, "There you are Asuma-sensei! Today's the day you're gonna acknowledge us as the awesome shinobi we are!" Ordinarily Naruto would only have to make such proclamations about himself, when facing down his many detractors, but today was different. He remembered clearly his sensei talking trash about the other two as well, which just didn't sit right with him. As someone who had experienced much the same for years, he couldn't help but speak up on their behalf.

Hinata and Chouji, in spite of their nervousness, both smiled slightly at Naruto's words. Hinata, in particular, felt greatly uplifted to be included in Naruto's proclamation. With surprising speed the cloud of her family was being swept away by Naruto's confidence. Subconsciously her posture straightened, and a small feeling of determination began to appear in her mind, battling her perpetual self-doubt.

For his part, Asuma simply shrugged casually, "We'll see."

Reaching behind his back, Asuma pulled out three scrolls and handed one to each of his genin. Taking them, the three opened the scrolls to find they contained a map of Fire Country, with a circular route marked out in red.

Naruto's face screwed up in confusion, "What's this?"

"This is the exercise you guys will be doing today. A foot race," Asuma explained.

Naruto, Hinata and Chouji's jaws dropped. This definitely wasn't what they had been expecting their test would be.

Frowning, Hinata looked over the map they had been given. The red line that likely marked out their intended course began at Konoha, then ran in a circle through the south of Fire Country, connecting to three dots marked 1, 2 and 3, before ending the circuit back at Konoha. The red-marked route followed roads along some of its length, but also crossed through forests, scaled mountains, and traveled along and across rivers.

"Um, sensei...this route…" Hinata began uncertainly.

Correctly guessing what she was worried about, Asuma nodded and responded, "The course is just over 200 miles long.(*1) You don't have to follow the red route exactly, though I recommend it, but you do have to arrive at each of the three numbered checkpoints in order. You will each collect a seal at the three checkpoints, and you cannot collect from checkpoint 2 without already having the seal from checkpoint 1 and so forth, so don't bother trying anything sneaky. Once you have collected all three seals you will return here. The time limit is 24 hours. You should return by 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Whoah whoah whoah, what!? Two-hundred miles!? How are we supposed to do that in a single day? We'll practically have run without stopping the whole time!" Naruto interjected.

"What about food?" Chouji asked.

Asuma shrugged, "You guys are shinobi. Figure it out. Also, don't forget that this a race. You're competing against one another here."

"W-what do you mean, sensei?" Hinata squeaked in trepidation.

"I mean only two of you get to pass. Whoever returns last will be sent back to the academy. Also, one more thing…"

The three genin, already shocked by their sensei's announcement, stared at him warily, wondering just what else the test could entail.

"The 24 hours is a hard limit. Anyone who doesn't return to the village before 24 hours is up...will be removed from the shinobi program altogether."

At this Naruto exploded, "WHAT!? No way! You can't do that! Can you do that?"

"Well, I suppose you could run back and ask the Hokage if I can…" he replied, gesturing back toward the village and the Hokage tower in the distance. "Or you could go ahead and get started. I was serious about the deadline being 8 am tomorrow, by the way. The clock's already ticking."

The three paused, looking at one another for a brief moment, before turning and dashing through the gate and out of the village.

Asuma inhaled deeply to finish off his current cigarette, before dropping it and putting it out with his foot.

 _And so it begins._

* * *

Several hours later Naruto, Hinata, and Chouji continued to run swiftly down the road. The first part of the course they were to run followed a large open road straight south for more than fifty miles, before turning west and heading into the mountains, where the first checkpoint was located.

For the first few hours the three genin roughly kept pace with one another. Surprisingly, it was Naruto who began to flag first. Slowly but surely he began to lag behind his two teammates, until he was several yards back and struggling to keep up.

Hinata looked back at Naruto with surprise and worry lining her face. She had been fairly certain that Naruto, with his boundless energy and incredible stamina, would be able to run farther and faster than either her or Chouji, and would likely lead the pack for the entire race. Yet now he was falling farther and farther behind and was still slowing down even more.

As she ran, Hinata looked Naruto over and tried to figure out what was wrong. Strangely, the typical signs of fatigue didn't seem to be present. His face was neither pale nor particularly flushed, he wasn't sweating over much, and his breathing seemed well regulated. However, as Hinata watched she began to notice something. The way Naruto ran seemed to be slightly off. It was almost as though he was trying to manage his footfalls such that only certain parts of his feet would touch the ground. Looking at his face, she saw that he seemed to wince slightly with every step.

Coming to a decision, Hinata steadily lowered her pace, slowing down until she had come to a complete stop. Somewhat to her surprise she noticed that Chouji had elected to stop along with her. As the two caught their breath, Naruto slowly limped up to where they were, stopping just in front of them. By some unspoken consensus the three moved to the side of the road and sat down, taking their first breather since they began.

After taking out a water bottle and taking a long draught from it, Chouji turned to Naruto and asked, "You alright Naruto?"

"Yeah...I'm fine." In spite of his words, Naruto had a grimace written across his face. He sat back on the ground with his legs splayed out before him.

Suddenly, Hinata was in front of him.

"Naruto-kun, would you take off your shoes please?"

Caught a little off guard by her sudden appearance, Naruto recovered quickly and waved her off. "Nah, I'm fine Hinata. I don't think you really want that anyway. I'm pretty sure my feet smell," he said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

Undeterred, Hinata leaned in and trapped him with her gaze. " _Please_ Naruto-kun," she said, more forcefully than before.

Blinking, Naruto looked at Hinata carefully. Though she was speaking just as softly as always, her voice had a slightly different quality to it and she had stopped stuttering for the moment. Her hands were held in front of her, but weren't fidgeting as they usually did. Most notable, though, was that she was holding eye contact, her gaze boring into him. Naruto was somewhat surprised by the depths that lay behind those pale white eyes. He got the impression that she wasn't going to relent any time soon.

Sighing, Naruto leaned down and began removing his shinobi sandals, wincing even more as he did so.

As Naruto's feet came into view Hinata and Chouji winced sympathetically, and Chouji let out a low whistle. Naruto's feet were a wreck. The soles of his feet were particularly abused, and were bleeding freely in some places.

Though in pain, Naruto was also embarrassed. Due to his limited money, and not being welcome in most of the shops in Konoha, he could only ever afford to purchase the lowest quality of gear, and that often at inflated prices. This particular pair of shoes had been heavily used before he even got them. He had been needing to get new ones for some time now, and after several hours of hard running, his current pair was now in the final stages of falling apart.

Clicking her tongue, Hinata reached into her pouch and pulled out a small cylindrical container. "Please put some of this on your feet, Naruto-kun," she said while shoving the container into his hands. Leaning over to where Naruto had placed his shoes on the ground, she picked them up and began looking them over.

Dumbfounded, Naruto looked over at Hinata, "Huh? W-what are you doing?"

"That medicine should help with your feet a little," Hinata said, nodding at the container still in Naruto's hands. "I can mend your shoes a little too. You'll need to get new ones, but I think I can make these last until we get back to Konoha."

"Wait...why? I mean, you remember we're supposed to be competing against one another here, right?"

Looking back at Naruto, some of Hinata's shyness seemed to return a little. "W-well...I just...I mean, I don't want you to fail. I don't want any of us to fail. I definitely don't want any of us to miss the deadline." Sighing, she looked away, and then said so softly he could just barely hear it, "I just wish all of us could pass."

Opening his mouth, Naruto started to respond that that was impossible, before pausing and closing his mouth without speaking. Honestly, he felt the same way. He really wanted to pass and finally become a shinobi, but he didn't want to do so at the expense of either Hinata or Chouji. The whole thing just sucked. He was really hating Asuma-sensei at the moment for forcing this kind of test on them.

"Um, in that case, could I maybe have some of that stuff too?" Chouji suddenly spoke up hesitantly, gesturing at the medicine container. His feet, while in nowhere near as bad a shape as Naruto's, were nonetheless very sore and seriously chafing inside his sandals. While he was in much better shape than his size would indicate to a non-shinobi, long-distance cardio was still not his forte.

Hinata smiled and nodded emphatically, "Of course, Chouji-kun. Just get it from Naruto-kun as soon as he's done."

Rubbing the cream into his feet, Naruto was amazed by how quickly the stuff seemed to be working. His feet felt miles better in seconds, and the bloody spots on his soles were already closing up. "Whoah Hinata! This stuff's amazing! Where did you buy this?"

"Um, I didn't buy it. That's just something I made myself."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Seriously? That's so cool! You're pretty amazing if you can just make something this good by yourself."

As soon as Naruto was done coating his feet in the substance, he passed the jar to Chouji. Chouji echoed Naruto's compliments, though close examination would show the medicine didn't work quite as well on him as it did on Naruto.

Hinata smiled and blushed at their words. Later, she would wonder just how her medicine seemed to work so miraculously on Naruto, when she knew quite well the limits of the substance's capabilities. But for now she was too warmed by their praise, especially Naruto's.

"Hey, I've got something too, actually." Reaching into his bag and taking multiple pieces of something out, Chouji handed some to both of his teammates.

Holding up what Chouji had given him, Naruto spoke, "Jerky?"

"Akimichi Clan Special Jerky!" Chouji said proudly. "This stuff's guaranteed to reduce hunger, and gives you an energy boost to boot! We make food pills too, but those usually have side effects we can't really afford right now...Anyway, have some. It should help!"

Thanking him for the gift, both Naruto and Hinata had a few bites of jerky and stored the rest for later.

Sitting there, eating some of Chouji's jerky, Hinata busily mending his shoes, Naruto was overwhelmed. He had never had someone go so far out of their way for him, especially considering that not only did they both not have anything to gain by helping him, but stood to be materially harmed by it instead.

Looking back and forth between his two teammates, Naruto's face slowly transformed into a mask of determination. He wasn't sure how yet, but he was going to find a way to pay both of them back. And if at all possible he'd make sure Asuma-sensei passed the two of them, no matter what.

* * *

From his vantage point, Asuma watched his three students. Instead of being forced apart by the condition he had added to the test, the three of them were still cooperating, and in fact seemed to be pulling even closer together.

He smiled. He couldn't stop watching them just yet. It was possible that since they were still near the beginning, that the reality of failure hadn't fully dawned on them yet, and would still come into play as they closed in on the finish line and time began to run out.

Time would tell.

* * *

"Are you sure we really need him?" Sakura asked Shikamaru again as the two trudged through the forest of the training ground.

Shikamaru sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure. It's the only way we're going to finish this test."

Shikamaru had had a bad feeling from the first moment that Kurenai-sensei had told them that they would have pass her personal test in order to become genin. Sure enough, the test they had been given was proving to be much more difficult than the academy exam.

The three genin and one canine of Team One had gathered early in the morning at one of Konoha's many training grounds. Kiba and Sakura had taken no time at all to continue their bickering from the previous day. Only when Kurenai-sensei herself had shown up did the two quiet down.

Kurenai-sensei had then explained that the test would be a timed test with a single objective, and that they would have until noon to complete the task. When Sakura had asked what the objective was Kurenai had simply stated, "Catch me," and then disappeared from right in front of them.

From there things had gone downhill rather quickly. Overeager to prove his superiority to Sakura, Kiba had taken off immediately claiming that he would finish the test himself, and launched a rude comment at Sakura over his shoulder. Angered by Kiba's brashness, Sakura had gone off after him, leaving Shikamaru alone in the clearing the team had met in.

For his part Shikamaru had simply sighed and walked into the forest at a more sedate pace. He was certain there would be more to this test than was immediately apparent, and he was content to wait and find out what that was before really putting any effort in. There was no sense in expending unnecessary energy before he even knew what the real challenge was. Once he had all the information, he could come up with a plan for passing the exam. That, or he could just give up if it looked too hard. Failure was always an option for him.

After thirty minutes of walking, Shikamaru still had not encountered Kurenai-sensei or either of his fellow genin. Figuring he must have missed them, he decided to turn back and return to the clearing they had begun the test in. It was as he was walking back that Shikamaru first noticed something was wrong. Though he was certain he had turned to go back the same way he had come, nothing he passed looked familiar, and he wasn't encountering any of the same landmarks.

Stopping in his tracks Shikamaru put his hands together in a seal, and with a muttered, "Release!" he forcibly stopped the circulation of chakra in his body. At once the scenery around him shifted as the illusion was cleared from his mind.

 _Ah. So that's the game._

Somewhere along the way Kurenai-sensei must have placed him in a genjutsu, or perhaps she had even done it at the very beginning of the test, when they were all together in the clearing. Either way, the illusion must have interfered with his sense of direction and caused him to wander around aimlessly. He doubted he had even been walking in a straight line, as he had thought.

Still, all things considered, this wasn't a bad thing. In fact, it was exactly what he had been hoping for. Now that he knew what the test really entailed, he could come up with a plan to complete it.

But first he would need to find Sakura and Kiba.

About an hour of searching later, Shikamaru finally came across one of his teammates. Sakura lay passed out on the ground, her body sprawled out where she had fallen. Shikamaru put his hand on her shoulder and sent a burst of his own chakra through her system.

Sakura awoke with a jolt to find Shikamaru leaning over her. "Wha...Shikamaru?"

"Relax. You're alright. Sensei must have put you in a genjutsu."

Sakura frowned. "Yeah, I know that. She's been putting me under various genjutsus since the moment I left the clearing."

Shikamaru's eyebrows rose slightly. "So this wasn't the first genjutsu she used on you?"

Sakura shook her head, "No. The first few were relatively weak but subtle. I wouldn't have noticed them if I hadn't felt the disturbance in my chakra. Those I broke out of pretty easily using the techniques for breaking genjutsu they taught us in the academy.(*2) But after that sensei kept putting more and more powerful genjutsus on me until there was one I couldn't break out of. I must have passed out."

Shikamaru mulled over Sakura's story for a moment. It was clear that their sensei was some manner of genjutsu master. It was likely that the closer they got to her, the more powerful the illusions she would use on them. Still, there was one other part of Sakura's story that had piqued his interest.

"You actually detected sensei disturbing your chakra when she put the genjutsu on you?"

Sakura seemed confused by the question. "Of course. Genjutsu is all about redirecting the flow of chakra in your opponent's brain to cause them to see all kinds of illusions…"

Shikamaru held up his hand to forestall the lecture Sakura was about to launch into. Clearly she didn't realize how incredible what she had done was. For a genjutsu user like Kurenai-sensei, trapping your opponents in illusions without them actually noticing at the time was vital. For that reason those who used genjutsu trained extensively to minimize the impact of their techniques on their opponent's chakra flow, so that their enemies wouldn't be able to detect the exact moment they became embroiled in the illusion. It had taken Shikamaru almost half an hour to realize he was in a genjutsu the first time, and he certainly hadn't felt his chakra being disturbed. For Sakura to have to noticed so easily would require extraordinary chakra control.

Shikamaru smiled as the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place. He now knew how they were going to pass this test.

"Alright Sakura, let's go find Kiba and Akamaru."

Sakura made a face at this. "What do we need him for?"

Standing up from where he had been kneeling beside her, Shikamaru explained, "Trust me. Sensei's way too good for any one of us to beat her alone. It'll take all of us to catch up to her and pin her down. But first, do you know the technique for removing genjutsus from other people?"

After taking a moment to explain the relatively simple technique to his teammate (Sakura had been surprised to learn that Shikamaru knew something that she didn't know), Shikamaru and Sakura set off in search of their final teammate and his partner ninken.

All of which led to their present situation.

"Are you sure we really need him?" Sakura asked Shikamaru again as the two trudged through the forest of the training ground.

Shikamaru sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure. It's the only way we're going to finish this test."

After another hour of searching (Shikamaru estimated that they had less than an hour left to finish the test) they finally picked up Kiba's trail, and found him lying next to Akamaru in a clearing, both of them passed out, twin trails of drool leaking from the corners of their mouths.

"Ugh, gross," Sakura said, deliberately steering away from Kiba and going over to Akamaru.

Shikamaru leaned over Kiba and placed his hand on his shoulder, repeating the process he used to awaken Sakura he sent a burst of his chakra into Kiba, removing the genjutsu that had been placed on him. Just to his right Sakura did the same for Akamaru.

"I got you now sensei!" Kiba yelled, bolting upright instantly and nearly knocking Shikamaru over. "Huh...wha...?" Suddenly coming to his senses, Kiba looked around in confusion, his eyes eventually settling on Shikamaru and Sakura.

"Sorry, buddy. 'Fraid that was just a genjutsu," Shikamaru said drolly.

Kiba groaned, "Dang it! I thought I had her…"

"Ha! That's what you get for running off like an idiot!" Sakura said smugly. "So much for finishing this test by yourself."

Kiba turned red with embarrassment and anger. "Sh-shut up, pinky! I doubt you could do any better!"

"At least I know how to handle genjutsu! You might have stood a chance if you hadn't spent the whole time in the academy goofing off!"

Kiba looked as though he was about to shout back, when Shikamaru finally cut in, "Shut the hell up, both of you!" Shikamaru's unusual outburst caught both Sakura and Kiba off guard, causing them to pause long enough for Shikamaru to continue. "Kiba, Sakura's right. You ran in half-cocked and got taken out easily. I don't know what you think you've been doing for the past few hours, but the real you has been laying here drooling the whole time. And Sakura…" Shikamaru turned quickly to his female teammate before she could start looking smug, "Kiba's right about you, too. You _didn't_ do any better. You may have been able to get through some of sensei's genjutsu, but you weren't able to do anything with that. You couldn't catch up to sensei before she put a genjutsu on you you couldn't break out of. And don't forget you ran off after sensei by yourself, too."

Coming to the end of his diatribe, Shikamaru took a deep breath to calm himself before going on firmly, "Now, if you both still want to pass this test, you need to be quiet, quit bickering, and listen to what I tell you."

Both Sakura and Kiba had the grace to look embarrassed by Shikamaru's biting, but accurate, comments. Currently the two of them were looking away from Shikamaru and each other. Even so, Kiba still spoke up grumpily on being given an order, "Hey, how come you're suddenly in charge around here?"

"Because, I'm the only one who hasn't been knocked unconscious yet today," Shikamaru said acerbically, causing Kiba and Sakura to flush with embarrassment once again. "And don't forget I'm the one who woke both of you up. Now, if you're willing to listen, I have a plan to beat sensei in the time we have left."

Her embarrassment fading to only a small blush remaining on her face, Sakura spoke up quizzically, "What's up with you all of the sudden, Shikamaru? Do you even really care if we beat sensei?"

Squatting down on his haunches, Shikamaru's suddenly forceful aura dissipated, and he returned to being plain old, lazy Shikamaru once more. "Honestly? Not really. That is, I wouldn't really mind returning to the academy or anything. That said, my mom would never stop nagging me if I didn't pass, and that's way more troublesome than this ever could be. So since I'm here anyway I may as well just go ahead and pass this test and get it over with."

Kiba snorted at Shikamaru's attitude, but didn't say anything more in protest. "So then, what exactly do you have in mind?" He asked.

Putting his hands together in the familiar motion he used while thinking hard, Shikamaru began outlining his strategy, "First of all it's important to note that's sensei's way too strong for any one of us to win on our own. Even if we can detect and dispel her genjutsu, she can just use a stronger one on us before we can catch her. The only way for us to find her, get through her genjutsu, and catch her, is if we all work together and combine what we can do. Got it?"

He looked around at all his teammates. Both Kiba and Sakura nodded in understanding, this having already been proven to both of them. Even Akamaru seemed to agree with a bark.

"Good. In that case we'll use this formation: Kiba, you and Akamaru will go first. Your job is to use your tracking abilities to lead us all to sensei. I'll go after you, my job will be to catch sensei with my shadow possession jutsu once we've gotten close enough to her. Finally, Sakura will pull up the rear. Your job is actually the most important, since you're the only one who can sense when you are being put under a genjutsu, we need you to get us all through sensei's techniques. If you detect a genjutsu being put on us I want you to immediately use the technique I showed you for removing genjutsus from others on me. I will then do the same for Kiba and Akamaru."

His teammates all looked at him with barely concealed surprise. It was strange enough that Shikamaru was being so forceful suddenly, in complete opposition to how he usually behaved, but now he was suggesting strategies that not only seemed feasible but also well thought out and inspired. Kiba and Sakura were beginning to wonder how well they really knew their other teammate.

"If we do all of this, we should be able to locate sensei, get through her illusions, and then pin her down. That should be enough to pass the test. By my estimate, we've only got about half an hour left to do this, so we need to move fast. Anyone have any questions?"

No one did. Kiba and Sakura were finally starting to look focussed, and simply nodded in determination.

"Alright then. Let's move!"

The three genin and one canine took off at top speed, Kiba and Akamaru taking the lead as they picked up Kurenai's scent.

The die was cast.

* * *

"Alright! That's two seals!" Naruto held the paper seal up triumphantly.

More than half a day had passed since the genin trio of Team Nine had begun their exam, and they had finally acquired the second of three seals they needed before heading back to Konoha. The second checkpoint had turned out to be a small shack located at the top of a mountain. Inside they had found a box containing the seals they needed to collect from the checkpoint. As Asuma-sensei had told them, they had been unable to open the box and collect the seals inside until they had placed the seals they had gotten from the first checkpoint on top.

Now standing outside the shack the three took stock of their situation. Roughly fourteen hours had passed since the beginning of the test. The sun had long since gone down, and they were well into the night. Fortunately it was a clear night, and the moon and the stars offered a decent amount of light. Even so, they were now approximately half-way through the course, and had only ten hours remaining to run the second half. But that wasn't even their biggest problem.

Looking back at his teammates, Naruto spoke up encouragingly, "Come on you guys! We only need one more seal each, and then we can head back to Konoha. We can do this!"

Even though he said this, Naruto could tell by looking at his teammates that the situation was grim. Naruto himself fortunately still had quite a bit of energy left, but the same could not be said for Hinata and Chouji. The two were clearly out of stamina. Even though they had been stopped for several minutes, both had still not yet managed to catch their breath. Chouji was sprawled out on the ground, looking as though he wouldn't rise again, and even Hinata was slumped up against a rock, likely unable to sit upright without its support.

"Narut...Naruto-kun," Hinata gasped out between breaths, "we can't go on. We need rest."

Naruto frowned, "But we can't! There isn't time. We need to keep going if we're going to finish before the deadline!"

"I know," Hinata nodded sadly. "I just meant Chouji-kun and I need to rest. If you can keep going, you should go ahead Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what she meant, but Chouji spoke up before he could respond.

"Yeah, go on ahead without us Naruto," He said, lifting his head weakly up off the ground and looking at Naruto. "If you've got the strength to keep going you should run as hard as you can, and try to make it in before the deadline. I don't...I don't think Hinata and me are gonna make it."

Slumping back down on the ground, Chouji looked over at Hinata despondently. He could tell from the look on her face, depressed and frustrated, that her thoughts were running parallel to his. More than anything the two wanted to get back up and keep running, but they simply didn't have the energy. Even with their shinobi training and chakra enhanced muscles, this test was simply too far beyond what they were capable of at the moment. However, even if they failed, they both desperately hoped that at least their orange-clad teammate would be able to succeed.

Tired as they were, Hinata and Chouji both jumped when Naruto shouted, "No way!" Naruto's face was set in a mask of stubborn determination. "There's no way I'm leaving the two of you behind! We're either gonna finish this all together, or not at all!"

Though Hinata's heart was warmed by Naruto's sentiments, the last thing she wanted was for him to fail because of her. Mustering up what strength she had left, she began to argue, "But Naruto-kun…"

Before she could finish, Naruto cut her off, "If you two can't run anymore, I'll run for you!" Putting his hands together into a seal, Naruto gathered his chakra and performed his newest technique. "Shadow-clone jutsu!"

The area around Naruto was suddenly filled with numerous explosions of smoke, which cleared to reveal more than a dozen Narutos surrounding the original.

Hinata's eyes widened. _So he_ _ **did**_ _learn the clone jutsu!_ Even though she was glad to see that Naruto had finally learned the jutsu that had held him back for so long, she wasn't sure how clones, even a bunch of them, were going to help them here. Struggling to her feet, she staggered over to the nearest clone and poked it in the shoulder, expecting that even this basic contact would cause it to dispel, as was typical for illusionary clones. Much to her surprise her finger met resistance as it came into contact with the very solid clone.

"They're real!" she said in surprise.

The real Naruto grinned proudly as he approached Hinata. "Yep! These aren't just any clones, they're shadow-clones! They're as solid as you and me. Well, unless they take any damage I mean, but still."

Sitting up, Chouji stared at the advanced clones in awe. "Are you serious Naruto? These are legit shadow-clones? Isn't that like, a really high-level jutsu?"

Naruto shrugged, "Apparently. Not sure why though, to be honest. These are a lot easier to make than regular clones."

Hinata pondered this. From what she knew of the jutsu based on theoretical knowledge, it wasn't the most difficult jutsu to perform, but the chakra cost was incredibly high. Even high-level shinobi generally couldn't create more than a two or three at a time, but here Naruto had created more than a dozen in one go! She wondered if that made him some sort of prodigy…

"Alright you guys!" Naruto shouted, getting the clones' attention. "Some of you guys scout ahead, find us the best route. The rest of you figure the best way to move Chouji. I've got Hinata."

Hinata squeaked in surprise as the real Naruto came over and knelt down in front of her, positioning himself as though to carry her on his back.

"Come on up, Hinata!" He said, completely oblivious to the girl's state.

Hinata for her part was caught between shyness, overwhelming embarrassment, and an unexpected part of her mind that was urgently encouraging her to accept the offer, which needless to say left the girl herself completely flummoxed. "Oh…I, uh…um...I mean...uh…"

Naruto looked at Hinata in confusion, "What's wrong, Hinata? We need to move!"

Naruto's encouragement putting her over the edge, Hinata stepped forward and placed her hands on Naruto's shoulders, allowing him to wrap his arms around her legs and lift her up on his back. It was a good thing that it was dark and her face was already flushed from running. Hopefully neither of her teammates would notice just how red her face had become.

Turning to where two more clones had lifted up Chouji between them, Naruto addressed his two teammates, "Okay. You guys go ahead and get some rest. I'll keep us moving all night!"

With that, all the Narutos turned as one toward the edge of the cliff and charged forward. Without any hesitation all of the Narutos, including the two carrying Chouji and the real one with Hinata, jumped off the side of the mountain and plunged down toward the ground, where they would continue following the course that would lead them to the final checkpoint.

As they fell through the air, Hinata shyly rested her head on Naruto's shoulder. At that moment, even falling off a mountain with the ground hundreds of feet below them, Hinata had never felt more safe.

* * *

For what felt like the hundredth time Sasuke struggled to move his body even a little. He thought he felt the dirt surrounding him shift a little bit, but he couldn't be sure he wasn't just imagining it. At the moment his entire body was buried in the ground up to his neck, the dirt and soil keeping him completely immobilized. He ground his teeth in frustration over his current predicament.

He had thought that no one could ever annoy him quite as badly as the class dead-last, Naruto Uzumaki, but his new sensei was definitely giving the orange-clad loser a run for his money. From the very beginning the man called Kakashi seemed to thrive on frustrating his students. The prediction Naruto's sensei had made on the day they were assigned their teams had turned out to be accurate, and Sasuke and his teammates had been left waiting in their classroom for several hours before the silver-haired man had finally shown up. Ino had been livid at his tardiness, and even Sasuke had been unable to completely conceal his irritation.

Their sensei had repeated this performance earlier that morning, after telling the three genin to arrive at five in the morning and then not showing up until less than two hours till noon. He then explained to them that they had until noon itself to take one of two bells from him, and that whoever was left without a bell at the end of the exam would be sent back to the academy. Unsurprisingly, with two bells for only three students, the three genin had all gone their separate ways from the moment the exam proper had started.

From there, everything had only gone downhill. Ino had apparently run out of patience first, and been the first one to launch an attack on their sensei. Kakashi hadn't even stopped reading his little orange book as he easily took her apart, eventually sending her flying into the nearby river. Attempting to take advantage of the distraction, Sasuke had then launched a brace of kunai at their sensei, which had been dodged almost effortlessly by the jonin. He had relocated as soon as his attack had failed, so he was unsure whether or not Shino had attempted anything. Either way Kakashi had still been wearing both bells when Sasuke ran into him again later.

Eventually, after more than an hour of playing cat and mouse with Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke had been left with no alternative but to face the man directly. He had gotten so close, too! After engaging sensei in a complex taijutsu combo, he had made a grab for the bells and had even managed to brush one of them with his hand, but somehow the jonin had escaped and managed to create distance between them. Sasuke had followed up with a fire-jutsu, but had only succeeded in giving Kakashi the cover he needed to vanish from Sasuke's sight. The next thing Sasuke had known, he was being pulled sharply downward, until his head was level with the ground. Kakashi had apparently used some sort of earth jutsu to pull most of Sasuke's body underground. After taunting Sasuke a little, the man had simply walked away.

That had been several minutes ago and Sasuke was still struggling to remove himself from the earthen trap. After several more minutes of useless struggling Sasuke heard the sound of someone rapidly approaching from the woods. Suddenly Ino came dashing through the clearing Sasuke was stuck in, and came to a sudden stop mid-step as she spotted Sasuke's head sticking up out of the ground. For a brief moment everything was frozen as Ino stared at Sasuke's head uncomprehendingly.

"Ino…" Sasuke began to speak, but before he could say any more Ino shrieked at the top of her lungs, and fainted dead-away on the spot.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. The situation was testing his limits for absurdity. He briefly toyed with the idea of calling out to Ino to try and wake her up and get her to help him, but he quickly discarded that idea. The last thing he needed was to owe any of his fangirls a favor.

It was at this moment that Sasuke heard the sound of footsteps approaching from the forest, these not running as Ino's had been, but with a calm, measured stride. Sasuke turned his head as much as his trapped body would allow, and saw his third and final teammate, Shino Aburame, approaching, apparently drawn by the sound of Ino's screaming.

Neither Shino nor Sasuke said anything for a moment. Shino stared quietly at Sasuke's head sticking up out of the dirt, then turned to look at Ino lying passed out on the ground, then looked back at Sasuke.

Suddenly Shino turned his head to the side and coughed, though it sounded strange, as though he were trying to cover up another sound by faking a cough.

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed angrily. _Did he just_ _ **laugh**_ _at me?_

Before Sasuke could do or say anything else, Shino was already moving forward, his composure completely recovered after his 'cough'. If he had in fact been laughing, or if he found any amusement in the situation at all, his voice managed not to betray any of it as he spoke in his usual clipped monotone.

"Please remain still, Uchiha-san. My allies will have you dug out momentarily." As Shino made his way over to where Ino lay passed out, a swarm of insects were disgorged from his jacket and made their way over to Sasuke, where they immediately began digging into the dirt that surrounded him.

As discomforting as Sasuke found the insects that made their home inside his teammate's body, he couldn't deny their efficiency. Within seconds the dirt around him began to loosen to the point where he could pull his arms up out of the ground, and began working to pull the rest of him up as well.

"Why are you helping me?" Sasuke questioned Shino suspiciously. Try as he might, he couldn't see any benefit to Shino helping out his toughest competitor in this challenge, unless he was planning on proposing an alliance, in which case Sasuke had underestimated the quiet boy. He was at this point quite certain that this was a test that could only be completed individually. Even if two or more of them worked together to get a bell they would just end up fighting amongst themselves over the bells anyway. Not that Sasuke had any intention of doing that in the first place. The ideal situation for him would be for him to be the only one to graduate.

Shino, meanwhile, was looking over Ino for any injuries. "Why? The reason is simple. It is because it is required for this exam." He answered mysteriously.

As Sasuke was finally pulling himself free from the ground, Shino began lightly shaking Ino to try to wake her up.

When Ino opened her eyes the first thing she saw was Shino standing over her.

"Yamanaka-san…" Shino began formally, before being suddenly interrupted by Ino's screams.

"AAAIIIEEE! Shino! It's terrible! Sasuke's been beheaded!"

"Ino!" Sasuke snapped to get her attention.

In surprise, Ino turned to see Sasuke, covered in dirt but still very much in one piece, standing just behind Shino. Before anyone could say anything else Ino suddenly glomped onto Sasuke, clinging to him possessively. "Oh Sasuke-kun, you're alright! I'm sooo glad!"

"Get off!" Sasuke growled, extricating himself from the clingy girl.

"Ahem," Shino cleared his throat to get his two teammates attention. "Now that we are all in possession of our senses and mobility, I believe now would be a good time to discuss a strategy."

Sasuke snorted and began walking away immediately. "If you're suggesting teaming up, no thanks. There's no point in working together if we're just going to turn on each other later. And besides, I have to be strong enough to get through this on my own."

Shino readjusted the sunglasses covering his eyes. "In that case none of us will be able to graduate. Even if you somehow acquire a bell on your own, you will still fail."

This was enough to give Sasuke pause. Turning back toward his teammates, he regarded the stoic boy coolly. Of all the students in Sasuke's academy class, Shino was the only one he was completely neutral toward (which was as high as Sasuke's regard for his classmates went). He was hard-working and studious, and Sasuke wasn't so arrogant that he didn't recognize that Shino was at least somewhat intelligent. He decided he may as well find out what he meant by the odd statement.

"Oh? And what makes you think that?"

Shino replied calmly, "The reason is twofold. For one, as near as I can tell, this team was deliberately assembled to possess the three highest ranked graduates from our academy class."

Sasuke nodded just slightly at this. Though his own prodigious skills had always put him comfortably ahead of the rest, he was aware that Shino and Ino had been the top two ranked graduates aside from himself.(*3) Ino had spent the majority of their time at the academy competing with another of his fangirls, Sakura Haruno, for the position of top-ranked kunoichi. Though Sakura had always had the advantage when it came to written tests, Ino had proven the more skilled when it came to practical application, and in the end had edged out Sakura overall. For his part Shino showed an impressive balance of knowledge and skill, always ranking quite high whether the subject were theoretical or practical. Were he in any other year aside from Sasuke's, it was likely that Shino would have ended up genin of the year. Not that Sasuke considered the Aburame to be on the same level as him, regardless.

All that said though, he wasn't sure how that applied to the present situation at all.

Shino continued, "As for the other reason, it is clear that Kakashi-sensei is far too strong for any of us to take on on our own. Indeed, given what I have seen of his skills, it is quite possible that even all of us combined may not be enough to defeat him, if he uses all of his strength."

At this point Ino interrupted, "Okay, I get what you're saying...but how exactly does all of that mean that even if we get a bell, we still fail?"

Adjusting his sunglasses yet again, Shino replied, "Simply this...what would be the point of deliberately gathering the best genin from our class onto a team, and then giving them an impossible task?"

Thinking for a moment, Sasuke began to get an inkling as to what Shino was saying.

"If it's impossible for us to get the bells, and if we assume the purpose of the test isn't make sure we fail…"

"...Then there must be some other way to pass!" Ino finished Sasuke's thought.

Shino nodded, and prepared to outline his plan.

"If both of you are willing to listen, I would like to make a proposal…"

* * *

It was a just before dawn when Naruto himself finally ran out of steam.

Hinata still on his back, he slowed and came to a stop. Turning around, he watched as his last shadow clone staggered to a stop, let Chouji down to the ground, and then promptly dispelled in a cloud of smoke.

Practically jumping off his back, Hinata worriedly looked over Naruto, "Are you alright, Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," he answered honestly. He knew that in a moment he would be mostly recovered. He doubted he could make any more shadow clones at the moment, but he was certain he could at least continue running. Unfortunately, they still had a huge problem.

"Darn it! We're still miles away from Konoha!"

Naruto had continued running most of the night, carrying the other two to allow them to recover as much as possible. With the others on back he had brought them to the third checkpoint, and then proceeded into the home-stretch. In spite of his best efforts though, they still had more than fifty miles to go, and less than two hours to run them.

Hinata did her best to try to think of something to say, something to keep her team's spirits up...but as usual she disappointed herself. Try as she might she couldn't see any way out of this situation. There was just no way they move fast enough to cover the remaining distance in the little time they had left. Bad enough she would fail the test, but she was certain she had ended up slowing down Naruto after all. It was all she could do not to let her despair overtake her.

Suddenly Chouji spoke, just barely loud enough for the other two to hear, "We're not gonna fail."

Turning to his final teammate, Naruto responded, "Huh? What was that Chouji?"

"I SAID WE'RE NOT GONNA FAIL!" Chouji suddenly roared. Taking what looked like a pill container from his pocket, the rotund shinobi opened one of the compartments and popped a green-colored sphere into his mouth.

Slamming his hands together into a seal, Chouji shouted, "Partial-Expansion Jutsu: Legs!"

As Chouji's jutsu took effect his legs began to grow, both in length and in size, until Chouji stood at least two feet taller than he had just seconds earlier.

Had their situation been any different, Naruto would have laughed at the sight of Chouji's squat body supported by two comically oversized legs. As it was he didn't have time to do much of anything, as Chouji suddenly dashed forward and scooped up his two smaller teammates and began carrying them at a shockingly fast pace in the direction of Konoha.

Now suddenly the one being carried, Naruto watched as the ground passed by in a blur beneath him. Chouji's legs, though funny-looking, were clearly getting the job done. With each large, chakra assisted stride Chouji covered large stretches of ground. They were now going at least twice as fast as they had been for most of the test. In spite of their still dire situation, Naruto couldn't help but smile.

His teammates were amazing.

* * *

Unfortunately for Team Nine Chouji had made a couple of miscalculations. For one, he had overestimated the amount of stamina he had regained after an uncomfortable night of being carried by Naruto. Also, he was still a novice when it came to his family's special food pills, and as such he had underestimated the deleterious effects of the green Spinach Pill.

Konoha had just finally come into sight when Chouji's jutsu suddenly ended. Dropping his teammates to the ground Chouji staggered a few steps forward and then collapsed, unable to move anymore.

Picking themselves up from the ground, Naruto and Hinata looked at the collapsed Chouji and then at one another. They silently nodded to one another. There was no need to even say anything anymore. Without a word the two walked over to their friend and lifted him up between them. With one of Chouji's arms slung over each of their shoulders, they set off for the gates of Konoha in the distance as fast as they could.

Thus it was that the three genin of Team Nine, exhausted, beaten and worn, finally staggered the last steps through the gates of Konoha on a brightly lit spring morning. Just inside the gate their sensei stood waiting for them, puffing away on a cigarette and looking as though he hadn't moved since they had left.

Letting Chouji down as gently as they could, Naruto and Hinata collapsed next to their third teammate, all three genin laying in a heap at their sensei's feet.

"Did we...huff...did we make it?" Naruto gasped out.

Asuma looked down at his three students. Taking the cigarette out of his mouth briefly, he responded, "No. You just missed the twenty-four hour mark by about thirty-eight minutes."

At once the worlds of the three genin came crashing down. After everything, after all their efforts, they had missed the mark by more than half an hour. Not only had none of them passed, but according to their sensei, they would all be removed from the shinobi program entirely.

Chouji slumped, depressed. He knew his parents would support him no matter what, but even so, he was sure his father would be disappointed he had failed to follow in his footsteps.

Hinata's thoughts followed a similar vein, though hers were marked by stark terror. Being a regular shinobi had been her father's backup plan for her, after she had proven unfit to be heiress. Now that she had failed at that too, what would he do with her? What would happen to her now?

Naruto, for his part, refused to accept it. Using what strength he had left he began to pull himself up from the ground to face Asuma, when suddenly his sensei started laughing. Face turning red with rage, Naruto opened his mouth to shout his sensei down. Before he could, however, Asuma's words brought him up short.

"Ba-ha-ha! You kids are incredible! I never thought you would actually get that close!"

Unable to fully comprehend his sensei's words, Naruto was left with his mouth hanging open. Not able to properly formulate a response, he could only let out an unintelligent, "Huh?"

Putting his cigarette back in his mouth Asuma began smoking again. Out of consideration for his student's shortness of breath he elected not to blow the smoke in their faces this time. "The Southern Fire Country course, which you all just got done running, is a special course used by jounin and ANBU for endurance training. There's no way a bunch of genin could run the whole thing in less than twenty-four hours."

Hinata blinked in surprise. "Then...you mean...the test was impossible?"

Asuma shrugged, "Well, the task I gave you was impossible. The test itself was something else."

Naruto, though still not sure what was happening, was nonetheless still annoyed by his sensei's nonchalance at the whole situation. "If we weren't supposed to finish the race, then what was the point of making us run the whole thing!?" he asked testily.

Finishing his current cigarette, Asuma responded calmly, "The point was to see how you would react when the chips were down. This test pitted you not only against an insurmountable task, but also forced you to compete with your teammates. When your backs were to the wall and you were faced with the prospect of failure, what would you do? Would you leave your fellow genin behind and try to pass on your own, or would you risk your own chances in order to help someone who could potentially take your spot from you? This whole test was set up to make you all face that decision. And without fail, you all chose to help one another, rather than succeed on your own."

Listening closely, the three genin were surprised by the force behind their sensei's words as he continued on, "That...is _exactly_ how a Konoha shinobi should behave! There's a reason why shinobi operate in teams, a reason why you're put into teams of three from the moment you leave the academy. By combining your respective strengths you covered for each other's weaknesses, and in so doing you were able to accomplish something none of you could have achieved on your own. Running the entire Southern Fire Country course in twenty-four hours and thirty-eight minutes, for a team of genin fresh out of the academy, is quite a feat. You can all be proud of that."

As she listened to her sensei explain the real test, a spark of hope was born in Hinata's chest.

"So...so sensei…what you're saying is…"

For the first time since meeting him, Asuma-sensei showed them a true smile, his eyes gleaming with mirth and just a touch of pride.

"Welcome to the shinobi program. You all pass."

After less than a second of stunned silence Naruto was leaping into the air in celebration. "Wooohooo! We did it! Let's all go for ramen to celebrate!"

Apparently revitalized, either by their unexpected success or by the mention of food, Chouji was suddenly at Naruto's side. "No way, man. We went for ramen last time, it's gotta be barbecue for our victory meal!"

"Oh come on, ramen is the perfect meal to reward yourself after a job well done, everyone knows that!"

"That may be so, but barbecue is barbecue! You can't beat that!"

Before the boys could launch into another passionate debate about ramen and barbecue, Asuma cleared his throat and spoke for all of them to hear, "Whatever you decide, don't spend too long on it. You all desperately need to recover from what you just went through. I want you to spend the rest of today and tomorrow resting. We'll meet briefly tomorrow afternoon for some light teambuilding, nothing physically strenuous, and then the day after we'll all meet at the Hokage tower for our first d-rank mission."

Naruto, already thrilled to have passed, became even more excited at the mention of a mission. Dashing over to his surprised female teammate, he began speaking to Hinata very quickly, "Isn't this awesome Hinata!? We're finally real ninjas! We get to go on a mission! I wonder what it will be? Maybe we'll get to fight bandits, or save a princess or something! This is so awesome!"

Unable to restrain his enthusiasm, he, on impulse, picked Hinata up and spun her around.

It all ended up being a little too much for the dark-haired girl. Having ridden a roller-coaster of emotions over the last few minutes, coupled with being suddenly embraced by Naruto, she was unable to hold out any longer. It was fortunate that she had just been through a grueling physical ordeal. With any luck, her teammates would just think that exhaustion had finally gotten to her.

She passed out.

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 _A/N:_

 _Thanks for reading. Please leave a review. Even just a few words are highly appreciated._

 _Thanks also to all who followed or favorited last chapter. I'd like to particularly thank_ _ **Kolsake**_ _,_ _ **DownAnder**_ _,_ _ **Novrier**_ _,_ _ **DARX26**_ _, and_ _ **Star0Dragon0Slayer**_ _for giving me my first reviews. I really appreciate the support and encouraging words. It meant a lot._

 _Anyway, that concludes the genin exam portion of the story. Moving forward I expect to focus more particularly on Team 9, as they are the main characters of this story. We will drop in occasionally to see the goings-on of the other teams, but it will mostly just be clips here and there until all the characters come back together again for the Chunin Exams._

 _(*1). How fast and how far can shinobi move? And for how long? It's never really made clear in canon. Certainly the characters move from country to country easily enough, and perform various feats of stamina that are impossible in the real world, but nothing is really specifically mentioned, to my knowledge. As a result, I waver back and forth as to whether 200 miles is too much, or too little._

 _(*2). This technique for breaking genjutsu isn't directly mentioned or explained until the beginning of Shippuden, though Shikamaru and Sakura are shown to be able to break out of genjutsu during the chunin exam arc. I state here that this technique was taught in the academy because it just doesn't make sense to me that such a simple (in concept, anyway) counter to one of the three major types of jutsu wouldn't be taught to students before they became actual shinobi. That's not to say that everyone knows it, of course. Naruto and Kiba being two excellent examples of students who slacked off during that particular lesson._

 _(*3). Aside from Sasuke being the number one rookie, and Naruto being the dead-last, it is never directly stated in canon how the other members of the rookie nine stack up against one another at the time of their graduation from the academy. This is, once again, simply my interpretation of these characters at this point in the story. Based on their backstory, and their fight in the chunin exam, it always seemed to me that Ino was ahead of Sakura, at least in the beginning. Her competitive nature, her own natural talent, and likely the advantage of being in a shinobi clan, all would lead her to edge out Sakura as top kunoichi, at least in my mind. As for Shino, he strikes me as someone who would thrive in a school environment. He's smart, focussed, hard-working, and in my opinion a bit of a perfectionist. His strength relative to the others is made clear in the chunin exam arc, but he never really gets a chance to show off his strength after that. In any case, these three members of Team 5 represent to me the top of their class, making them the opposites of Team Dead-Last._

 _Regards,_

 _MD_


	3. A C-rank Mission

**Ch.3: A C-rank Mission**

* * *

Six weeks had passed since Naruto, Hinata and Chouji had passed their sensei's grueling test to become true shinobi. At the moment the three genin and their jonin sensei were making their way through the streets of Konoha, heading back to the Hokage Tower after another successfully completed mission. Another frustrating, ridiculous, soul-crushing D-rank mission.

On the third day after passing their genin exam, the genin of Team Nine and Asuma had gathered at the Hokage Tower to receive their first mission from the Third Hokage himself. Naruto had naturally been beside himself with anticipation, and even Hinata and Chouji had seemed excited. The looks on their faces when the Hokage had informed them that their first official mission would be babysitting had been priceless. Asuma wished someone would have taken their picture right at that moment, he would have gladly made that his team's official team photo.

As it so happened today's mission had also been babysitting, for a mother with infant triplets, and Naruto was no more enthused by the task today than he had been six weeks ago.

"Babies are just the worst!" Naruto griped. "They're loud, annoying, always hungry, and constantly crying about _something_!"

Asuma looked down at his orange-clad student. "Welcome to _my_ world," he said dryly.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Naruto shouted back at their teacher.

What followed was fast becoming a common scene for the team, with Naruto angrily shouting at their sensei to take them seriously, and Asuma only half paying attention easily parrying his student's words with sarcastic comments when not ignoring him outright. Fortunately, with Naruto's short attention span, the argument only lasted a couple of blocks, before Naruto was drawn into a conversation with Chouji.

Walking just behind his three students, Asuma looked over his charges once again, and thought about the team's current situation. After a month and a half together, he was beginning to get a much clearer picture of his student's strengths, weaknesses, and potential.

As he had suspected, the ultimate potential his students possessed was far beyond what their academy scores would indicate. This wasn't to say that they deserved better scores, of course. They each had their own unique potential, and at the same time they each had something that was holding them back.

Naruto's problems were the most obvious, and these stemmed mostly from neglect. Asuma was beginning to suspect that Iruka Umino, the only academy instructor known to occasionally speak up for Naruto, was also the only instructor to put any serious effort into teaching him. While he doubted that any of the other instructors had gone so far as to actively work against the boy (such behavior would definitely have been caught and punished by the Hokage), it was still possible for them to indirectly sabotage his growth by not correcting his mistakes, or helping him improve when he fell behind. For example, his taijutsu form was full of bad habits that had been allowed to become ingrained, something no responsible instructor would allow. At the same time, Naruto's own loneliness and childish need for attention had driven him to focus on the flashiest and most noticeable parts of being a ninja, often at the expense of the more mundane but extremely important fundamentals.

Fortunately, Naruto did have several good traits that would benefit his growth. Foremost among these being a deep hunger to learn, and a determination and willingness to work as hard as necessary to master something. Naruto typically didn't learn anything at a particularly fast rate, but his incredibly good work ethic would still enable him to improve rapidly, when paired with instruction and guidance.

Chouji's problems were of a completely different nature. At first, Asuma had been mystified as to what the boy's problem was. At times Chouji would show flashes of potential and strength, but then when Asuma tried to get the boy to put his abilities into action, he would suddenly hold back. Asuma had begun to become frustrated with the boy's reticence, until he had finally realized what was really going on.

It had been while Asuma was having his students practice throwing kunai that he had finally come to understand. The targets for the training session had been human-shaped dummies. Hinata had been quite skillfully and consistently hitting the target's center-of-mass, as they had been trained to do at the academy. Naruto, of course, was trying unsuccessfully to hit the target right in the head. Chouji, though, was actually landing all of his kunai, but only on the legs and arms, none on the torso or the head. Even with a training dummy, he was only going for disabling blows.

It was at that moment that Asuma understood. Chouji's problem was actually that he was too gentle. He had the skills, but he shied away from the more aggressive aspects of shinobi life. On the one hand this was a serious problem. While not every mission involved violence, it was still one of the hallmarks of their profession, and Asuma didn't see Chouji switching to a supportive or subterfuge role. At the same time though, it wasn't necessarily a career ender. Some of the greatest, and most dangerous, shinobi in Konoha's history had also been among the most gentle. When a gentle warrior was roused to fight for what he held dear, he could become a fearsome force to be reckoned with. If Chouji could figure out the way to turn his gentleness into strength, he could become one of the village's greats.

Of course, the problem with this was that turning gentleness into strength was not a lesson that could be taught. Ultimately, Chouji would have to figure it out on his own, all Asuma could do was try to point him in the right direction.

This, of course, brought him to his final student, and Asuma held back a sigh.

As he had feared, the problems facing his only female student were by far the most severe. Hinata's perpetual self-doubt and lack of confidence were quite frankly crippling to her potential as a shinobi. While for the average child such problems could result in social awkwardness and low self-esteem, for a shinobi they were potentially deadly.

The simple fact of the matter was that when it mattered most, Hinata almost always faltered. Though she worked hard in training, when the time came for her to put her skills into practice, she consistently underperformed, freezing up whenever her mind started to tell her she couldn't do something. Whether it was taijutsu sparring, or catching a runaway cat for a mission, whenever Hinata spotted an opening to take action, she hesitated, agonized over her decision, and ended up doing nothing and missing her chance. When she inevitably failed she always criticized herself harshly, further reducing her self-esteem and locking her into a vicious cycle of self-defeat.

It was a cycle Asuma wasn't sure how to break, either. The trouble was that, as with Chouji's issue, the solution to Hinata's problem would ultimately have to come from within herself. Asuma could only cheer her on and try to build her up, which he did at every opportunity, but even that could only do so much. At the same time, he couldn't afford to take it easy on her forever, not when her reticence could endanger the team. He would have to start to push her at some point, or else she could potentially become a liability.

It was a shame too, because if Asuma was honest Hinata was probably the most technically proficient of all of his students. Her taijutsu, from what he could see, was smooth and graceful, and bespoke hours of strenuous, focused practice. Her weapon usage, while nothing uncommon, was still far more precise than either of the boys. She had full mastery over the academy level ninjutsu, and of course, her chakra control was as fine as one would expect of a Hyuuga. She was by no means a genius, but at her current level she should have easily outpaced her male counterparts, instead of often being the one who struggled the most.

All the same, she did have one exceptional trait, which surprisingly was the same as Naruto's. Hinata almost always put her all into her training. She was more than willing to put as much blood, sweat and tears as was necessary, and then some, into her efforts to improve. Her work ethic even rivaled that of the orange-clad idiot (and reminded Asuma a bit of a couple of neon-green-clad idiots he knew). If she could just find a way to overcome her own inhibitions, she could stand to grow just as rapidly as the other two.

Yet, all things considered, even with their difficulties he was actually quite happy with his team, and pleased with their growth thus far.

Just as important, he was really starting to feel like he was coming into his own as a sensei. When it came to training and motivating his students, Asuma's philosophy was anything goes. Whatever it took to help his students overcome their hindrances and improve, no matter how unorthodox, he was willing to do. Even using tactics he knew his fellow sensei would look askance at, like bribery and blackmail, Asuma didn't hesitate. In fact, he had found such techniques to be among the most useful, in his own opinion. He preferred to think of it as "positive and negative reinforcement techniques".

For example, unlike his two more driven teammates, Chouji actually had a tendency to be a bit lazy, Asuma had discovered. Whether this was due to his own laid-back nature, or his longtime friendship with a Nara, Asuma wasn't sure. Regardless, the solution to this had of course been rather obvious: food. All it took to motivate Chouji was the promise of some kind of food as a reward. A well-timed bribe, and Chouji would go just as all out in training as Naruto and Hinata.

At the same time, Asuma had discovered an equally effective tool for motivating Hinata: Naruto. From the beginning, Hinata's admiration, and perhaps even affection, for Naruto had been rather obvious. The few times when Hinata really seemed to perk up and show a bit of will almost always seemed to involve Naruto. He seemed to be perhaps the only thing that could cause Hinata to set aside her own self-doubt and really make progress. While Asuma couldn't vouch for Hinata's taste in men, her latching on to Naruto as a source of inspiration actually made a bizarre kind of sense. Naruto, being the dead-last in his class, naturally received a lot of criticism, and of course his status as jinchuriki made the negativity directed at him even more toxic and vicious. Regardless, Naruto never seemed to lose faith in himself, and always pushed forward with a force of will that even Asuma could admit was impressive. For someone like Hinata, Naruto must have represented the type of person she wished she could be.

Upon realizing this, Asuma had decided to take a gamble, and have the two of them work together in the hopes of improving both.

One of Naruto's most glaring deficiencies was his taijutsu. Sloppy, half-improvised, and riddled with bad habits, it would take serious time and effort for Naruto to relearn this most basic of shinobi skills, and bring it up to an acceptable level. While in spars Naruto was able to compensate with creativity (and occasionally spamming shadow clones), having a better understanding of taijutsu would ultimately only be to Naruto's benefit, and seeing as it would also improve the effectiveness of his clones, stood to exponentially improve Naruto's ability to affect a fight.

Of course, a major obstacle to this was that learning the basics of taijutsu was actually quite dull. It required running through a series of forms, stances, and katas, receiving increasingly minute corrections, doing the same series again, and repeating this process over and over and over again, until his body had memorized the correct methods. With Naruto's flighty personality and short attention span, it was incredibly difficult to get him to focus on this rather boring and highly frustrating task.

And that was where Hinata came in. Asuma had decided to have Hinata teach Naruto taijutsu, and had assigned them both to work together on it for a couple hours every day. While Hinata's primary taijutsu style was, of course, the Hyuuga Gentle Fist, she nonetheless had learned the basic style taught at the academy, and performed it with the same precision she applied to the Gentle Fist.

Deciding to raise the stakes even further, Asuma had informed the two that Naruto would face a punishment if his improvement in taijutsu failed to reach certain milestones within a given amount of time. Just Naruto. The pathetic look on Hinata's face when she realized that if she failed to teach Naruto properly it would result in punishment for him had made Asuma feel like a real ass. Nonetheless, Asuma believed it was necessary to place both of them in this tough situation.

Fortunately, thus far his gamble had paid off positively. Naruto honestly excelled in this type of situation. Give him a time limit and a consequence for failure, and he almost always managed to pull success out of his hat. This had the dual effect of steadily improving Naruto's taijutsu, and also giving Hinata a small confidence boost every time Naruto succeeded. The look of pride on Hinata's face each time Naruto accomplished something was definitely a good sign, even if the pride was more for Naruto than herself, it was still something.

At the same time, the time the two spent together was also helping to improve their teamwork and reduce some of the awkwardness between them. Hinata, of course, with her shyness, had trouble interacting with everyone on the team, but Naruto most of all. Naruto also, for his part, seemed to have no idea how to deal with someone on so completely different a wavelength from himself, as Hinata was. Now though, the two were able to speak together far more easily than they had that first week.

It was Asuma's hope that eventually the two would rub off on each other, in the long run. Not that he expected them to change all that much, but if Hinata could become a little bit more bold, and Naruto a little more circumspect, it would ultimately be to the benefit of them both.

While Asuma mused the team drew steadily closer to the Hokage Tower, eventually arriving at the front entrance to the broad crimson structure. Going straight in, the three genin and one jonin made their way to a large open room that was currently being used for dispensing missions.(*1)

Within the room the Third Hokage sat at one end of a long table, flanked by a chunin and a pair of non-shinobi administrative workers. As it happened, the chunin who was working that day happened to be none other than Iruka Umino, who had been the genin's primary teacher during their time at the academy. He flashed a smile at his three former students as they entered the room.

"Team Nine reporting after successful mission completion, Hokage-sama," Asuma stated, walking up to his father and handing over a small scroll containing his report. Mission reports were really a formality when it came to D-rank missions, nonetheless the village preferred to maintain a standard.

Opening and briefly scanning over the scroll's contents (which were really just a couple of sentences Asuma had written on the walk to the tower), Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and handed the scroll over to Iruka. "Good job taking care of the Takayama triplets," he said in his gravelly voice. "Now let's see… Team Nine's next assignment will be to help Mr. Morita clean out his attic…"

"Nuh-uh! No-way! Not happening!" Naruto's shouted exclamations interrupted the Hokage. "We've done enough of this menial junk! It's time you gave us a real mission old man!"

Asuma cringed and held back another sigh. _Yeah, I figured it was about time for this kid to lose his cool._

Iruka was on his feet immediately, slamming his hands down on the table he shouted at Naruto, "Idiot! Show some respect! You're still the dead-last of a brand new batch of rookies. In the beginning everyone works their way up with simple missions. Don't act like you've earned some special consideration yet!"

"But come on, Iruka-sensei! All the missions so far have been so lame!" Naruto whined.

Rolling his eyes, Asuma smacked Naruto on the top of the head. It was a light blow for Asuma, but was enough to send Naruto sprawling to the ground. "Cool your jets, skippy," he said to his obnoxious student.

"Naruto!" The Third Hokage spoke up. "It would seem it's necessary to explain to you what a mission is," the Hokage said before launching into an explanation. "Every day missions pour into the Hidden Leaf village, ranging from assassinations to babysitting. These missions are divided up based on difficulty into A, B, C, and D rank missions. Likewise, the shinobi of the Leaf are divided up into jonin, chunin, and genin ranks based on skill level. Missions are distributed based on the ninjas whose abilities and skill levels match up with the requirements of the mission. If the mission is successful, a fee is paid from the client to the village. That said, you all are still fresh genin. D-rank missions are about the best you can handle right now."

As he wrapped up his explanation, the Hokage looked down to where Naruto was sitting on the ground, to find that Naruto already had his back to him and was talking to his team.

"So Chouji, what are planning to have for dinner tonight?"

Chouji grinned widely. "Tonight is the weekly Akimichi clan potluck dinner! You guys should come, there's gonna be loads of food!"

"Hm, maybe. Friday nights are usually when I make miso ramen…"

" _Pay attention!_ " the Hokage roared, causing all four members of Team Nine to jump and turn back to the front.

Asuma sweatdropped. _Crap, I got distracted by the talk of food too. Man, I'm gonna get lectured again._ "E-excuse us, Hokage-sama," he apologized.

Naruto, of course, couldn't just leave it there. "Man, you're always lecturing me, old man. But just so you know, I'm not that same bratty little prankster I used to be anymore!" he said, crossing his arms and pouting.

 _Well, you're not a prankster anymore, anyway._ Asuma thought to himself, trying not to groan aloud. He had a feeling his father was really going to ream him later for his team's lack of decorum. _Please shut up, Naruto. The more you act out, the worse things get for me, you know._

Instead, the Hokage's next words caught Asuma off guard. "Alright, fine! If you insist, I have a C-rank mission that's perfect for a team that's particularly…driven." Much to Asuma's surprise the Hokage's expression behind his pipe was pulled into a small grin that held amusement, warmth, and just a hint of mischief. Asuma wasn't completely sure whether to be relieved or more worried.

Naruto was on his feet in an instant. "Really!? A C-rank mission? What is it, what is it!?" Naruto was practically hopping up and down with excitement. "Will we be guarding a lord, or maybe saving a princess!?"

Sarutobi chuckled. "Now, now, calm down while I explain the mission. This mission request comes to us from the Lord of the Land of Greens. He wants Konoha to provide protection for a caravan of merchants as it makes its way out of his land. You depart tomorrow morning. The exact details will be in the mission scroll."(*2)

"Aww, are you sure we can't save a princess or something?" Naruto pleaded.

"Naruto!" Suddenly the Hokage was completely serious. His tone of voice even managed to silence Naruto and make him straighten up where he stood. Next to him Hinata and Chouji, still startled that Naruto's tantrum had actually worked, also straightened up and came to attention. Sarutobi continued, trying to impress the solemnity on the three genin. "Understand this. The moment you step beyond the walls of our village, you will be representing Konoha to the world. Make sure that whatever your mission you treat your clients with respect, and behave with the honor and dignity expected of a shinobi of the Leaf. Is that understood?"

"Y-yes Hokage-sama!" The three genin replied, Naruto even throwing in a salute.

"Good. Very well then." The old Hokage rose slowly from his chair. Turning to the side he addressed the others sitting at the table, "I think that's enough for today. Iruka, if you would wrap up things here."

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

"Excellent. Asuma, please dismiss your team, and then meet me in my office."

Asuma grimaced. _Ah, that'll be the lecture, then. Damn, almost thought I was home free._ "Alright kiddies, you heard the Hokage. We assemble tomorrow morning at 8 am at the main gate. Bring standard gear and supplies for at least a couple weeks. We've got a long way to travel, so get plenty of rest tonight. That means going to bed early, not staying up late and then oversleeping," he said while staring straight at Naruto.

"Yes, Asuma-sensei!" his two more respectful students responded promptly.

"Geez, a guy oversleeps one time…" Naruto grumbled as they made their way out of the room.

"Three times." Chouji quipped.

As his students left, Asuma turned to follow his father to the Hokage's office.

"I see Naruto is having no trouble making himself heard on your team." the Hokage remarked to Asuma as they walked down the hall.

Internally Asuma braced for the worst. "Er, yes. Well, Naruto is definitely my most...outspoken student."

Somewhat to his surprise yet again, the Hokage chuckled. "Outspoken? Yes, Naruto has always been that. But believe it or not there was a time not so long ago when Naruto could only really express himself with pranks. I'm glad to see he's doing well on your team, Asuma."

As the two approached the Hokage's office, Asuma began to realize that he hadn't been called in for a lecture. His father seemed to be in a good mood, and didn't have the traditionally grave look on his face he usually had when he was about to read Asuma the riot act.

But if the Hokage hadn't summoned him to discuss his team's poor behavior, it most likely meant that this meeting was to discuss the mission he had just been assigned. While it wasn't unheard of for the Hokage to speak one-on-one with a team leader to review an upcoming mission, it hardly seemed necessary for a mere C-rank mission, especially one as simple as caravan protection. As he thought back to the description of the mission his father had given to the team earlier, one detail stuck out to him as odd.

"Is it typical for the feudal lord of an entire nation to hire protection for a single merchant caravan, especially one that's not even from his country?" Asuma began to probe his father for answers.

The Hokage smiled and answered, "It's not as unusual as you might think, for the Lord of the Land of Greens anyway. He has always been a most kind and generous man, and I understand that this particular merchant caravan did very good business in his land, which is most beneficial for a poor land like Greens Country. He probably wants to give them every reason to return to his country in the future. And I mean to help him in this endeavor."

Asuma arched an eyebrow at that statement. His suspicions that there was more to the mission than immediately met the eye were increased, but for the moment he remained silent as they walked through the doors to the Hokage's office. He decided he would wait and see if his father had more to reveal about the mission before interrogating him.

Upon entering the room Asuma moved to stand in front of his father's desk while Hiruzen himself walked around behind it. However, instead of sitting down as Asuma expected the Hokage knelt down and retrieved something from beneath the desk. Standing up, the Hokage placed a medium-sized wooden box on the desk before Asuma.

"Now then," the Hokage began, "before you leave tomorrow I wanted to make sure you take this with you. This mission will require some…special equipment...for your students."

Asuma regarded his father quizzically. "What kind of special equipment?" he asked. What manner of special equipment could be required for a merchant escort mission, he wondered.

Gesturing towards the box, the Hokage replied enigmatically, "See for yourself."

Stepping forward, Asuma lifted the lid from the box and revealed the contents inside, what looked like clothes. Taking one of the objects from the box he saw that they were plain, grey-colored overcoats that looked about big enough to fit one of his students. Flipping the garment over he saw that there was brightly colored lettering stitched onto the back. Reading what it said, his eyebrows began to rise. Asuma lifted his gaze back to his father, to see that the Hokage was smiling, once more with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Once you arrive at the mission location I want you to distribute these to your students. I think you understand what they need to do from there," the Hokage said.

Asuma let out a snort of laughter and smirked. He had to admit, he was already looking forward to seeing the expressions on his student's faces when he gave these to them. It was bound to be hilarious.

Still, this only raised more questions in his mind about the mission. Placing the garment back in the box, Asuma decided it was time he started getting answers from his father.

"All right old man, level with me. What exactly is all this? Why is the Leaf Village going so far out of its way for the Lord of the Land of Greens?"

His expression sobering slightly, the Hokage replied, "To be honest, this isn't a village matter, precisely. It's more of a personal issue. The truth is, I owe the Lord of the Land of Greens a great debt."

Asuma's eyes narrowed a bit. That didn't sound right. "You mean, a debt of gratitude, or…?"

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes, indeed. Also, a very large sum of money."

That took Asuma by surprise. When it came to finances, either the village's or his own, the Third Hokage had always been highly fiscally responsible. He made a point to never accrue a debt that couldn't be paid off quickly if necessary. In fact, the only times he was ever really troubled by debt were when…

Suddenly the pieces fit together in Asuma's mind. He voiced his suspicions out loud to his father, "...The Slug Princess?"

Seeming to deflate a little, the Third Hokage let out a long-suffering sigh, and nodded. "It seems Tsunade passed through the Land of Greens a few years ago. While there, she quickly amassed debts with nearly every creditor and gambling den in the country…"

Asuma rolled his eyes. "Of course."

"Yes well, in any case, the Lord of Greens Country was kind enough to take on Tsunade's debt. Since then, I've been looking for an opportunity to repay him for the kindness he showed my student, but there hasn't been a good chance to do so. At least until now. That's why I'm adding the additional objectives to the mission, and why the Leaf Village will not be accepting any payment from Greens Country. I'll be paying for it from the finances of the Sarutobi clan instead. It doesn't even begin to repay the full amount that I owe the man, but it's a start at least."

Asuma sighed in response. "I really don't see why you should be on the hook for Tsunade's debt anyway."

The Hokage chuckled dryly. "To be honest, the Lord of the Land of Greens himself said the same. He has insisted in the past that I do not need to repay him for someone else's debt. Regardless, I mean to do so anyway, as a personal matter. After all, Tsunade's failings are also my failings as a teacher."(*3)

Asuma had to force himself not to cringe. It was well known that one of Hiruzen Sarutobi's biggest hang-ups was with regards to his students. Of the three shinobi he had trained as genin many years ago, only one was still truly loyal to Konoha, though he could rarely be found in the village itself and was a well-known degenerate. Another, Tsunade, was essentially a vagabond at this point, wandering from place to place with no goal, racking up huge gambling debts wherever she went. Though of course even she paled in comparison to the third member of the trio, who was a wanted fugitive and murderer.

Without exception though, the Third Hokage always seemed to hold himself responsible for his student's mistakes. Asuma knew that his father blamed himself for the way two of his three students had fallen away, which hardly seemed fair to him, given that the Sannin had been adults for years when they had all gone their own ways.

Asuma sighed internally. It wasn't right that his father should have to feel guilty for the actions of people who hadn't been under his tutelage for decades. Unfortunately, he knew his father wasn't likely to listen to anything he had to say about it. For that matter, his formerly "prodigal" son was probably the last person he would be willing to hear it from. Regardless, Asuma felt like he had to say _something_.

"Old man…"

The Hokage held up his hand to forestall what Asuma had been about to say. "Enough, Asuma. I know what you want to say. Rest assured I have heard much the same from multiple other parties. Regardless, my decision is, as I said, a personal matter. I have made certain that this will not negatively impact the village in any way, and as such, this is my prerogative. That will be all."

Asuma held back another sigh, and restrained himself from saying any more about the matter. Instead he simply replied, "Understood Hokage-sama." Stepping forward, he took a moment to seal the box of clothing into one of the storage scrolls he carried, and stepped back at attention.

The Hokage nodded. "Very good. Best of luck on your mission, Asuma."

Recognizing the dismissal for what it was, Asuma responded, "Sir." Turning around, he left the Hokage's office, his father lighting up his pipe behind him.

* * *

Asuma made his way through the halls of the Hokage complex. The bit of drama aside, he was actually looking forward to the coming mission. It would be relatively relaxing for him, doing some simple, straightforward shinobi work. And while he was sure that his students wouldn't be thrilled with the "extra objectives", it would still be a good experience for them as a whole. Besides that, he decided he would teach them all a new technique to make up for it.

 _Hm, now that his taijutsu is starting to improve, next up for Naruto is chakra control._ He nodded to himself. _Yeah, now seems like a good time to teach them all_ _ **that**_.

As Asuma made his way toward the exit, suddenly another shinobi came into view, coming around a corner down the hall. The shinobi was about a head shorter than Asuma, though in many other regards they looked similar. The other shinobi was dressed in the standard Jonin attire of blue pants and shirt under his standard Konoha flak jacket, the one unusual item in his outfit being the large, oversized bo staff he wore strapped to his back. His face was square and chiseled like Asuma's, and was framed by a beard that ran down the sides of his face and ended in a triangular point beneath his chin. His face was locked into a perpetually grim, humorless expression, though it may have twitched briefly into a frown when he spotted Asuma.

Asuma had to stifle a groan as he and the other man's gazes met, and he realized he wouldn't be able to avoid meeting him. Of all the people in Konoha, here was one who could always find a way to ruin his good mood.

The other jonin walked resolutely forward, seemingly neutral. Also continuing forward, Asuma schooled his features into an easy grin, deciding to be dismissive and nonchalant.

When the two came into close proximity to one another they stopped a few feet apart. The shorter man nodded to him. "Asuma."

Relaxing into an easy slouch, Asuma casually returned the nod. "Yo, big brother."

Frowning at his younger brother's flippant attitude, Gendo Sarutobi turned to regard the much taller man. Unlike Asuma, Gendo had inherited more of their father's height, being only slightly taller than the Hokage himself.(*4)

"I heard you've been assigned to teach students. I just passed a group of genin leaving the building a moment ago, were those them?"

Taking a cigarette out of his pocket, Asuma shrugged, "Depends. Were they alternately too quiet, too fat, and too loud? Then yes." As he lit up the cigarette and began to smoke, Asuma didn't fail to notice his older brother's hand twitch in the direction of his flak jacket pocket, where Asuma knew he kept his cigars. Nevertheless, Asuma knew his elder brother wouldn't light up until after he had delivered his report to the Hokage.

 _Ever the dutiful subordinate, eh big brother?_

Unamused, Gendo responded, "That's not a very charitable way to speak of one's own students."

Asuma waved away his brother's words. "Oh relax, I'm just kidding. They're good kids, really. Besides, when has teaching shinobi been about charity, anyway?"

"All the same, I hope you're taking your responsibilities as a teacher seriously, Asuma. Your students can't afford for you to be lax."

Asuma rolled his eyes. _Oh really, big brother? And here I was just gonna hand them each a single kunai, throw them out the gates of the village, and wish them all the best of luck._ He thought sarcastically. Out loud, though, he replied, "Well if I was that would be my business, wouldn't it? They are my subordinates after all."

Gendo was no longer trying to hide his disapproving frown. "I'm serious Asuma. Training students is one of the most awesome responsibilities you can undertake in this village. The things you teach them can determine whether they survive or die. It deserves your full attention and effort."

Asuma smiled down nastily at his older brother. "Don't you worry about my kids, Gendo. Instead, spare a little more time for your own."

Gendo visibly winced at that statement. Asuma's elder brother had a son, Konohamaru, that he unfortunately rarely got to see. Both Gendo and his wife were very important retainers of the Hokage, answering to him directly and often carrying out his most important objectives. Together they were often referred to as the left and right hands of the Third Hokage. Unfortunately, the downside of this was that the two were often kept constantly busy, and didn't get to spend nearly as much time with their child as they wished. The boy, as a result, spent a great deal of time under the guardianship of various tutors. And while he was of course very well looked after, nothing could truly replace the attention of a parent. In recent years this had begun to manifest in the form of wild and outlandish behavior from the young boy. It was well known at this point that Konohamaru made regular forays into the Hokage tower to try to challenge his grandfather to a fight. Challenges that ended in the boy hurting himself more often than not.

It was a low blow, and Asuma knew it. But he just didn't care at the moment. He was just beginning to really take pride in being a teacher, in the accomplishments of his students. And Gendo, in his usual fashion, decided to come along and spit on it. Well, screw him.

Gendo scowled. "Everything I do, I do to protect what's most important," he replied stonily.

"Yeah yeah, I know. Gotta protect the 'king', right?" Asuma gestured over his shoulder, in the direction of the Hokage's office.

Gendo grunted, "Are you still going on about that? Your inability to understand something so simple isn't my fault."

Asuma shrugged. "I just think it's a bit of a shame is all. But I guess if you really want to protect the king, you gotta sacrifice a few pawns, am I right?"

Gendo's eyes glinted with anger. "Why you…"

"Enough!" A strong voice cut sharply into their conversation. Asuma and his brother turned to see their father, the Hokage, walking down the hall toward them. "Do I have to separate the two of you, like I did when you were children?" he chastised.

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama." Gendo bowed to his father in respect. Next to him, Asuma muttered out an apology and inclined his head to the elder shinobi.

"Gendo, Asuma has been doing a fine job as a sensei. In any case, it was _I_ who entrusted him with part of our village's future, and his performance is _my_ concern."

"Sir," Gendo responded, remaining bowed to his Hokage.

"Good. Now go wait for me in my office. I will be there momentarily to receive your report."

Gendo straightened up. "Yes, sir." Not sparing his brother another glance, Gendo strode past their father, swiftly disappearing down the hall.

When the two of them were alone, father and son stood silently for a while. Asuma turned his head away, not looking at his father nor meeting his gaze.

The Third Hokage said nothing for a while. At long last, he spoke up, "That...was beneath you, Asuma."

When Asuma turned back to look at his father, he saw his expression was pulled into that oh-so-familiar look of disappointment. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. He knew that he had gone too far. He just couldn't stand to let his brother say whatever he pleased without hitting back. He tried to think of something to say to respond. "I…"

His father held up a hand to stop him. "It may be true that your brother willingly misunderstands you. But you willingly misunderstand him as well." The Hokage paused, taking a puff from his pipe. "One day you'll understand what drives your brother forward. On the day you learn what it truly means to protect the king."(*5)

Asuma sighed internally. _So you're saying I still don't get it, even now? Great._

The Hokage shook his head and let out a sigh, seeming suddenly old and tired again. "Well, you won't learn standing here. You have your orders."

"Sir." Asuma's heels clicked together as he snapped to attention. Turning around, he resumed making his way out of the Hokage complex.

His father was right about one thing. He had a mission to prepare for.

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 _A/N:_

 _*Re-uploaded to correct errors*_

 _Thanks as always for reading. Please leave a review, even just a few words are highly appreciated._

 _These scenes ended up being a bit longer than I initially anticipated. As a result this chapter ended up being more about Asuma than I originally planned. Rest assured, the story will still be primarily about Naruto, Hinata, and Chouji, and I plan to focus on them again next chapter. That said, I've been really inspired with a storyline idea for Asuma, so I'm setting him up for some character development in future chapters._

 _(*1). I am aware that in canon this scene occurred in a room at the Academy. For this story, I have altered the location of the room to the Hokage Tower, as I just can't figure out why the Hokage would be dispensing missions from the Academy building._

 _(*2). I had decided pretty early on that I didn't want to bother rehashing the Wave mission in this story. While coming up with alternate ideas for Team Nine's first C-rank mission, this arc from the original series ended up jumping out at me. I liked the idea because it happens to be the only mission from the show to feature Naruto, Hinata, and Chouji on a team together. Obviously this mission happened a few months later in the show, but I consider that a relatively minor change. In any case, while I generally like to justify any changes to the story, I'm not dead-set on remaining locked into canon either. (Also the mission was D-rank in the anime, but it really should be C-rank at least, in my opinion)_

 _(*3). People with addictive personalities tend to have someone who enables their bad habits. Based on how he behaves with Orochimaru, the Third Hokage strikes me as someone who would be an enabler for Tsunade._

 _(*4). My first semi-OC. Obviously, Konohamaru must have a father, so this character must technically exist in canon, but we never really see him. It is stated somewhere that Konohamaru's father and mother are both in ANBU, along with their nickname "the hands of the Third Hokage", but all other aspects of this character are my own invention. I thought it would be interesting to introduce him as the dutiful son, whereas Asuma was sort of the wild child in the family. While Asuma has issues with his father, his relationship with his brother is even worse. Where Hiruzen has his pipe and Asuma his cigarettes, Gendo is a cigar smoker._

 _(*5). If all this talk about the "king" is confusing you, go check out some of Asuma's backstory scenes from the anime. It refers to the king piece in shogi, which is basically Japanese chess._

 _Regards,_

 _MD_


	4. To the Land of Greens Coup d'etat

**Ch.4: To the Land of Greens / Coup d'etat**

* * *

It was a bright and sunny morning when Team Nine set out from Konoha for their first official C-rank mission. The sky was clear and bright, but there was a cool, gentle breeze that kept the day from getting too hot. All things considered, it was an excellent day to start a mission.

From the moment they set foot outside the gate to the village, Naruto began hyperactively running around, his excitement getting the better of him. His former dissatisfaction with the mundane nature of the mission was apparently forgotten now that the adventure had finally started.

"What's got you all wound up, Naruto?" Asuma questioned his student. "You remember we're just protecting merchants for this mission, right?" Asuma was glad that Naruto was at least being positive about the mission, but even so, it was too early in the day to be dealing with his student's antics.

Naruto paused for a moment, but didn't look too put out. "Yeah, I know. But still, I can't help but be excited. This is my first time leaving the village! I mean, I've been outside the walls before, but never for more than a few hours. When we went outside for special exercises during the academy, we always came back in before nightfall."

"Hm, you were outside for more than a day during your genin exam," Asuma reminded his student.

The blond-haired genin gave his sensei the stink eye for reminding him of that awful experience. "Yeah, but thanks to your stupid test I was running like crazy the whole time, so I didn't really get to enjoy it."

Asuma chuckled lightly. In spite of himself, he couldn't help but sympathize with his student a little bit. He felt a wave of nostalgia as he thought back to his first time leaving the village as a genin.

"Alright well, just make sure you don't tire yourself out. It's still quite a ways to go before we reach the Land of Greens."

Somewhat unexpectedly, Hinata spoke up from next to him, "Um, sensei...out of curiosity, what sort of place is the Land of Greens? Do you know much about it?"

Internally, Asuma was pleased that Hinata was finally beginning to speak up unprompted in situations like this. He promptly responded, "Hm, well, I wouldn't say I know a lot about the place. But to be perfectly honest I don't think there's a whole lot to know. The Land of Greens is a small country with an even smaller population. There's just not much of note to be found there. To my knowledge, the only thing they're really known for is having lots of wide open fields full of flowers."

 _That sounds nice._ Hinata thought to herself.

"That sounds girly," Naruto said, not as nearly enthused with talk of flowers. "What about shinobi? Are there any shinobi there?"

Thinking back to what he knew about various countries' shinobi populations, Asuma replied, "Not very many, but a few, I think. Unlike Fire Country, the Land of Greens has no kage, and in fact doesn't even have a real shinobi village at all. From what I understand there's really just a handful of shinobi whose job it is to protect the feudal lord."

Actually, in Asuma's opinion, it was a simpler, better system. The presence of two "kings" in a country created a potential faultline for conflict. The balance of power between the kages and the feudal lords had always been delicate and somewhat awkward. Not to mention it gave potential enemies more places to strike and cause critical damage, thus making the job of protecting the "king" that much more difficult and complicated. In his younger days, Asuma had been an open proponent of reducing the number of "kings" to one. Thus, many years ago, he had left the village and joined the Guardian Shinobi Twelve, an elite unit of shinobi gathered from around the Land of Fire to protect the Fire Country feudal lord. In fact, he still wore the sash of the Guardians around his waist as part of his standard attire to this very day. It had been his way of protesting the current system and showing his support for the feudal lord as the ultimate authority in the Land of Fire, even though he was the Hokage's own son.

Unfortunately, the Guardian Shinobi Twelve had ended in tragedy, when half of their number decided to change the system directly by assassinating the Hokage. The resultant coup split the Guardians into two factions, and ended with the deaths of all of the members except for Asuma and his old friend Chiriku.

 _Damn Kazama._ He thought bitterly, not for the first time. _I may have had my own issues with the system, but did he really think I wouldn't act to protect my own father?_

Asuma shook his head to clear away these dark thoughts. His meeting with his brother the day before had left him in a bad mood, and caused him to be prone to think about things he'd rather not.

The day wore on as the members of Team Nine made their way steadily westward. They marched most of the day, until the sun began to sink toward the horizon, the sky just beginning to turn a light shade of orange as evening approached. Though they still had a few hours of daylight left, Asuma decided to call a halt.

"Alright, that's far enough for today," he called to his three genin. "We'll set up here for the night." There was a clearing in the trees he had spotted not too far off the road that he thought would make a good campsite.

"Huh?" Naruto checked the position of the sun. Though the light had begun getting in their eyes as it headed toward the horizon, it was still well up in the sky, and there were still several hours left before it could even be called dusk. "Are you sure, Asuma-sensei? Wouldn't it be better to keep moving until nightfall?"

Asuma responded to his student's question, "Well, first of all, Naruto, you always want to leave yourself an hour or so of daylight when you stop moving for the day. Trying to set up camp in the dark is no fun at all, trust me. Besides that," he said, now grinning at his students, "I thought I'd give you guys a few hours to train on the new technique I'm going to show you."

His student's attentions were immediately caught by that statement. Naruto, in particular, was predictably ebullient at being taught a new technique. As the four members of Team Nine made their way into the trees, he rapidly pestered Asuma with questions as to the nature of the lesson. "What kind of technique are you gonna show us Asuma-sensei? Is it gonna be some awesome exploding elemental jutsu? Or maybe a super-slick kunai technique! Is it?"

Stopping in front of three trees that looked like they would serve, Asuma turned to face his students. Nodding, with a smirk, he replied, "Even better! I'm gonna teach you guys...to climb trees!"

Asuma paused, waiting for the typical combination of confusion and outrage from his students. Instead they all stared back at him blankly, patiently waiting for him to finish the joke. Asuma sweatdropped. _I guess I'm getting a little predictable._ "Ah, that is...I'll be teaching you to climb trees without using your hands."

At this Hinata and Chouji looked surprised and interested, while Naruto just looked confused.

"Ooh! Is this the tree-walking technique?" Chouji spoke up, looking excited. "Neat! I've been looking forward to this!"

Naruto looked back and forth between his teammates and sensei, looking totally lost. "Wait, what are you guys talking about?"

Chouji, still looking excited, replied, "Come on Naruto! You know how older shinobi can run straight up trees, and along the sides of buildings and stuff?"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh. OH! You mean...there's a special technique for doing that?"

"Um, Naruto-kun..." Hinata spoke, "Tree-walking is a chakra based technique shinobi use to attach themselves to objects against the force of gravity. Um...how did you think they did it?"

Naruto, realizing this was probably another one of those things he really should have already known, scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Uuuhhh...running really, really fast?"

Asuma sighed. It was easy even for him to forget sometimes how much basic knowledge Naruto was missing.

"Yes, well, as Hinata said, this technique involves gathering chakra in a specific area in order to attach yourself to objects or surfaces. You can technically use any part of the body, but for the purposes of this training, we'll focus on using the bottoms of your feet. The goal is to gather chakra directly to the soles of your feet and maintain it at a steady level in order to create a pull between yourself and the opposite surface, like so." Saying this, Asuma proceeded to gather chakra in his feet, and then casually strolled up the side of the tree nearest him, his hands never leaving his pockets and his body parallel to the ground.

His students, needless to say, were suitably impressed, watching in open amazement as he casually defied gravity. Once he had climbed high enough he stepped off the trunk onto a tree branch and turned to face the genin once more.

"The purpose of this training is two-fold. For one, this is obviously a very important skill for a shinobi. Once you have mastered it, your mobility will be greatly increased. You'll be able to scale obstacles easily, and jump from tree to tree safely. Just as important though, since the soles of the feet are the most difficult places to gather chakra, learning this technique will force you to hone your chakra control." Seeing a question growing in Naruto's eyes, he decided to head it off at the pass. "'Chakra control' refers to how adeptly you are able to mold your chakra. Improving your chakra control will increase the effectiveness of your jutsu, and also the efficiency with which you expend chakra for them. This technique is considered a prerequisite to learning higher-level jutsu."

Naruto's expression was growing more excited by the minute. Grinning ferally, he said, "So what you're saying is, once we learn how to do this, we'll be ready to learn more powerful jutsu?"

Naruto's words gave Asuma an idea. _Time to break out the bribery and blackmail!_

Smirking, he replied, "Sure! In fact, how about this...This mission should last about two weeks altogether. If the three of you can all master this technique by the time we get back to Konoha, I'll teach each of you a new ninjutsu."

Naruto, of course, looked thrilled at this, his eyes glowing with excitement, and Hinata and Chouji both looked interested. With Asuma, though, things were never that simple.

"Of course, if any of you can't complete the training in the given time, the whole team will do a special _exercise_ instead."

The three genin all shuddered at their sensei's tone. Since their genin test, the word 'exercise' had come to have a special meaning for Team Nine. They all knew to be worried when their sensei used it as a threat.

Even so, the three didn't immediately back down. Naruto, if anything, looked even more resolute. As usual, the threat of failure only served to make him more determined. He glanced back and forth between his two teammates. For their part, Hinata and Chouji both looked a bit hesitant at first, but after meeting Naruto's gaze both seemed to stiffen in their resolve. Naruto's courage inspired them to reach farther than they would have before.

Receiving firm nods from his teammates, Naruto turned back to Asuma with a bold grin. "You're on, Asuma-sensei! We'll complete this training _and_ learn those new ninjutsu in no time flat!"

Smiling proudly down at his three students, Asuma replied, "Heh, I look forward to it. In that case…!" With a single sweep of his arm, Asuma threw three kunai that landed squarely in front of each genin. "You'll use these to mark your progress. It'll probably take you some time to figure out exactly how to manipulate the chakra, so you should start by running up the tree. Now, focus your chakra in the soles of your feet, and get started!"

* * *

Two hours of focussed training later, Naruto was starting to get seriously frustrated. The markings he left on the tree with his kunai were scattered all over the side, none of them going more than ten feet up the side of the tree. Aside from the kunai scratches, the tree was also marred with multiple foot-sized gouges, from when Naruto put too much chakra into the technique. The real pain in the butt part of this training was that the amount of chakra used had to be just right. Put too little in and your foot slipped right off the bark, and you went tumbling down to the ground. Put too much into it though, and the bark would splinter right under you, throwing you forcefully off the side of the tree. Finding that exact balance of chakra was what was really giving Naruto trouble.

He wished he could say that he was slowly but steadily pushing higher and higher, but that wasn't technically true. Naruto's results were essentially random each time he made an attempt to charge up the tree. He would go higher on one attempt, only to suddenly not make it as far his very next try. No matter what he did, he couldn't seem to replicate his success from one attempt to the next. For that reason Naruto knew he wasn't really making progress on this training at all.

Looking to his right, Naruto checked the progress of his fellow male teammate. Chouji hadn't made huge progress on the training, his highest mark being only a few feet higher than Naruto's highest. That said, unlike Naruto, Chouji had been pushing steadily up the tree. Each successive mark he made was a little higher than the one before it.

Hearing something falling through the air to his left, Naruto looked over and sighed dejectedly, as Hinata landed lightly on the ground once more. On their first attempts, both Naruto and Chouji had ended up flat on their backs, not even managing to leave a mark on their way down as their chakra's hold on the side of the tree failed. As they rubbed their aching backs, they both simultaneously noticed that their third teammate was missing. Looking up, their jaws had dropped to see Hinata standing on a tree branch more than halfway up the side of the tree she had been climbing.

Laughing, Asuma-sensei had explained that Hinata's Gentle-fist style of taijutsu was similar in concept to the tree-climbing technique, since it involved controlling and expelling chakra from the hands to augment one's strikes.

This did little to make Naruto feel better, however, as he glanced up the side of Hinata's tree. Hinata's highest mark now reached nearly three-quarters of the way up the tree. She would be at the top in no time at this rate, while he was still struggling at the bottom. Getting to his feet once more, Naruto's face fell into a determined grimace. He refused to be left behind!

"Alright, that's enough for today." Asuma suddenly spoke up from the side, interrupting Naruto's last attempt. "No more attempts for now. We'll pick this back up tomorrow."

Turning to his sensei, Naruto replied desperately, "Hang on, Asuma-sensei, just a little more…!"

"No Naruto," Asuma replied firmly. "Remember what I said about setting up camp in the dark? Besides, you've still got other training you have to do today."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Lighting up a new cigarette, Asuma responded, "Your taijutsu training, remember? I still expect you to improve your taijutsu during this trip. That's why you and Hinata are going to stay here and work on it, like you do every day, while Chouji and I set up camp." To make sure Naruto didn't resume tree-walking as soon as his eyes weren't on him, Asuma said over his shoulder as he and Chouji walked away, "Oh, and don't forget that Naruto will do a special _exercise_ if his taijutsu isn't at a level I deem acceptable by the end of the month."

As Asuma-sensei and Chouji left the clearing, Naruto turned to face Hinata, who was fidgeting nervously as she always did when they were left alone.

"Um...sh-shall we get started?"

Naruto sighed resignedly. "Where should I start?"

"Um, begin from the fourth kata," Hinata replied.

Settling in, Naruto began running through the series of forms and movements. As he ran through the sets, Hinata circled around him, carefully correcting any mistakes she spotted with her sharp vision. After a while of this, the two switched over from practicing katas to sparring one-on-one. The purpose of the sparring was to force Naruto to use proper form when in an actual fight, as opposed to just running through katas on his own. There'd be no point, after all, if it didn't improve his actual fighting ability.

As Naruto traded blows back and forth with Hinata, he reflected that he was glad that, for the sake of their practice spars, Hinata always stuck to using the standard academy taijutsu style. Over the last month and a half of being on a team together, Naruto had sparred more than once against her Gentle-Fist style, and it was always irritating, to say the least. Trying to land a blow on her while she was using her family's signature taijutsu style was like trying to punch the wind. Even when she wasn't using chakra to enhance her strikes, she could easily glide around all his attacks and slip inside his defences to deliver her own.

All the same though, outside of these practice sessions they had, he had never actually lost a spar against her. Every time they sparred in front of Asuma-sensei back in the village, Hinata always seemed to find a way to lose against both himself and Chouji. Often she would either make a silly mistake, or fail to capitalize on an advantage, and end up getting taken out in a counter-attack. It was just another one of those peculiarities that made his female teammate so hard to figure out.

He sighed internally as his mind treaded over well-worn territory. She was just so...so _weird_! Hinata was a mixed bag of contradictions. There were many times when she seemed to be just as big a screw-up as he was, from her inability to win a competitive spar, to her regular mistakes during missions. On the other hand, she would just as frequently display performances that completely blew him out of the water, like today during the tree-climbing training.

Dealing with her personally was just as confusing. At least with Chouji, he knew where he stood. Chouji and he got along famously. They both had easygoing personalities, similar senses of humor, and similar interests outside of shinobi work. More than that, they just had fun together. Naruto was already starting to think of Chouji as someone he could truly be friends with. Conversely, he had no idea whether Hinata liked or disliked him. Certainly, there seemed to be plenty of evidence of the latter. Hinata struggled to get along with anyone, but always seemed particularly uncomfortable around him. She constantly fidgeted, struggled to speak, and wouldn't meet his gaze anytime they were forced to interact. On the other hand, she had agreed readily to helping him train with his taijutsu, even though that meant spending hours together alone almost every day.

Of course, for his part, Naruto wasn't able to deal with her any better. Unlike Asuma-sensei and Chouji, Hinata just had a completely different personality from himself. He never quite knew what to say or do when dealing with her. Fortunately, the amount of time they had spent together since becoming teammates had at least taught them both how to deal with one another one a surface level. All the same, there were times when Naruto wished he could just grab her by the shoulders, shake her around and ask her what her problem was.

He knew he wouldn't, though. After what she had done for him during their genin exam, there was no denying that Hinata was a nice person. He just wished he could get a read on her, sometimes.

As he was thinking about this, he mistakenly lost focus on the match for a moment, allowing Hinata to slip inside his guard and deliver a punch to his midsection, knocking the wind out of him. For someone so small, Hinata could deliver more of a punch than she looked.

Naruto ended up flat on his back, struggling to catch his breath. Above him, Hinata began panicking. "N-n...Naruto-kun! I'm...I'm sorry! Are you alright? Sorry!"

Recovering quickly enough, Naruto waved her off. "I'm fine, I'm fine. My bad, I lost focus for a second there."

"I'm sorry."

A note of irritation entering his voice, Naruto responded sharply, "You don't have to apologize. It was _my_ fault."

"...sorry…"

Sighing resignedly, Naruto got back to his feet. "I guess we should start over, huh?"

Somewhat unexpectedly, Hinata shook her head. "N-no, I think that's enough for today."

"Hm? You sure?"

Nodding profusely, Hinata replied, "Yes, I think so. Your taijutsu has improved a lot, already. I'm sure you'll be ready for sensei's test at the end of the month."

Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, Naruto responded, "You think so? Thanks, I guess."

Suddenly, Naruto got an idea. Moving closer to her, Naruto whispered to Hinata conspiratorially, "Hey, Hinata. Since we've got a bit of extra time, do you think you could give me some advice on the tree-climbing technique?"

"Uh, sure but...what do you want to know, exactly?"

Waving his hands in the air vaguely, Naruto replied, "You know...just...how are you able to do it so well?"

Pushing her fingers together, Hinata answered, "Um, well, the secret is to maintain a constant flow of chakra from the feet. If you use too little chakra, your feet won't stick, but if you use too much, you'll be forced off the surface. Once you've figured out how much chakra you need to attach to a particular surface, you can just focus on keeping that level of chakra in your feet as you climb up the tree. I've heard that once a shinobi masters this technique, they can feel out how much chakra is needed to attach to a particular surface without needing to think about it."

Naruto sighed and shook his head. He had already figured out most of what Hinata told him on his own. Though that last part was interesting, it unfortunately didn't help him much. "Yeah, I sorta knew most of that. But like, how do I maintain an exact constant flow of chakra?"

Hinata tilted her head to the side, looking slightly confused. "Um, why don't...why don't you show me what you've been doing so far?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Just...send chakra into your feet like you would to do the tree-climbing technique," Hinata replied.

"Oh...okay." Putting his hands into a seal, Naruto focussed on sending his chakra down to his feet.

As he did so, he saw from the corner of his eye Hinata running through a series of hand seals herself. Completing the sequence, she softly whispered, " _Byakugan!_ " Suddenly the veins surrounding her eyes bulged out visibly as her bloodline limit activated, the iris becoming more defined, and the pupil, which was usually indistinct, becoming visible as an outline.

Naruto had, of course, seen Hinata's unique family doujutsu a couple of times by now. Overall he found her appearance while using the bloodline limit both slightly creepy and, also, kind of cool. Asuma-sensei had explained to him that the genetically-inherited eye-technique of the Hyuuga Clan was one of the most powerful and respected bloodline limits possessed by the Hidden Leaf Village. It was why the Hyuuga clan was known and feared throughout the shinobi world, and with good reason. The byakugan allowed the user to see in all directions, up to several miles away, and even through solid objects. The combined properties of their doujutsu made it one of the most powerful reconnaissance tools in the world, and the nearly 360-degree field of vision it granted them made them all but impossible to sneak up on, making it also very useful in a fight. Naruto had once tried to imagine what it must be like to see in all directions at once, and found that he couldn't even wrap his head around the idea.

Perhaps just as important, though, the byakugan allowed the user to see inside a person, to the very chakra pathways themselves, which were normally invisible, and incorporeal. With the possible exception of the Uchiha, the Hyuuga were perhaps the only people in the world able to see the flowing chakra within a person's body. And it was for that purpose that Hinata activated her byakugan now.

Carefully observing the chakra flowing through Naruto's feet, Hinata spoke up, "Um, you need to make the flow of chakra into your feet even. Also, you need to use a little more chakra."

Naruto frowned. He thought he had been doing that already. Refocusing, he sent more chakra into his feet, trying to make the amount constant. "How about now?"

Hinata shook her head. "Now you're using too much. Try reducing the amount a little...there, that's right! No wait, now you're using too little again…"

This went on for several minutes, with Naruto trying unsuccessfully to steady the amount of chakra he used, and Hinata trying equally fruitlessly to guide him through the process. After a while, Naruto got frustrated.

"Ugh, this is hopeless!" he growled, dropping his seal and allowing the chakra in his feet to dissipate. "How the heck am I supposed to make my chakra just do whatever I want!?"

Standing off to the side, Hinata looked on forlornly. Desperately she tried to think of something to say that would help, but as usual, came up with nothing. She wracked her brains, trying to figure out why Naruto was having trouble, and how she could help him overcome it.

 _Naruto-kun just can't seem to get a handle on his chakra._ She thought. Unlike her teammates, Hinata had years of experience in controlling her chakra for use in the Gentle-fist style. _Well, controlling my chakra was difficult for me too at first, at least until I learned the…_

Suddenly a flash of inspiration hit her. Remembering back to their days in the Academy, she recalled that they had once been taught the same lesson there.

"Naruto-kun," she spoke up, catching his attention, "do you remember the leaf-sticking exercise we learned in the Academy?"

Looking at her in confusion, Naruto responded, "Uuhh, leaf-sticking...?"

Picking up a stray leaf from off the ground, Hinata replied, "It's where you keep a leaf attached to your forehead using only your chakra." The leaf-sticking technique was one of the only chakra-control exercises they had been taught at the Academy. Thinking back on it, Hinata started to suspect that Naruto may never have finished learning it.

Recalling a vague memory from back at the Academy, Naruto snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, I think Iruka-sensei tried to make me, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji do that for detention, once. But we, uh…" Scratching the back of his head embarrassedly, Naruto continued, "...we sorta snuck out of the room when he had his back turned, and didn't do it."

Hinata nodded her head, her suspicions confirmed. "Try doing it now," she said, handing the leaf she had picked up over to Naruto.

Taking it, Naruto stared at the leaf blankly for a second. "Uh, so what do I…?"

"The leaf-sticking exercise operates on the same principle as tree-walking," she explained. "Gather chakra to your forehead, and try to attach yourself to the leaf. If you use too little chakra, the leaf will fall off. If you use too much, the leaf will be destroyed."

Holding the leaf up above and between his eyes, Naruto tried to do as he had done before, this time focussing on gathering chakra in the center of his forehead. For a moment, nothing seemed to be happening. Then, as he increased the amount of chakra, he suddenly felt the leaf press flush up against his forehead, sticking there like a piece of tape. Before he could get too excited, Naruto had to rein himself in, as he felt the edges of the leaf start to crumple inward, as though being gripped in a fist. Focussing with all his might, Naruto tried to hold that point, between crushing the leaf and allowing it to fall, where the leaf remained stuck in place. After a while, Naruto suddenly realized that both his hands had fallen to his sides, and he had been holding the leaf in place using only his chakra for more than a minute.

"This is…" Naruto paused, trying to maintain control of his chakra while speaking at the same time. "This is somehow a lot easier," he said.

Hinata nodded, smiling at Naruto's success. "The soles of the feet are among the hardest places on the body to precisely control one's chakra," she explained. "At the same time, the head is one of the easiest places. That's why a lot of powerful elemental jutsu use the mouth as a focal point." Hinata continued, "Learn to feel how much chakra you're using, then try to apply that knowledge to your feet when we're practicing tree-walking. Once you've got a handle on keeping the leaf in place, you should try to do it while walking around."

"How will that help?" Naruto asked.

Hinata replied, "It's important that you're able to control your chakra while also doing other things, like moving around. You'll need to be able to do that for the tree-walking, after all. Even better, if you can do the leaf-sticking while moving, then you could probably keep practicing while we're walking during the day, and be even more ready for when we stop to practice tree-walking in the evening."

After listening to Hinata speak, Naruto released his chakra and allowed the leaf to fall into his hand. Once again his female teammate had come to his aid when he most needed it, he thought as he stared at the leaf in his palm. Looking up at Hinata, Naruto decided he had to say something.

"Hey, Hinata…"

Hinata blinked as she met Naruto's suddenly serious gaze.

"...you know, I really think you're…"

Hinata's eyes widened as she listened to Naruto, her mind hanging onto his every word.

"... _super weird_!" Naruto finished.

Hinata slumped in place, her eyes downcast. "O...oh…" she said, dejected.

"But...you know what?" Naruto resumed. "You're also kind of cool. You mess up a lot, but I can always tell that you're trying really hard. Also, you're always helping me out without my even needing to ask. I'm still not even sure whether you like me or hate me, but I can tell that you're a good person." Naruto turned around, looking away from Hinata. "I guess what I'm trying to say is...I'm glad that I'm on a team with you."

From the corner of his eye, Naruto looked back at his teammate. Hinata stared back at him, seemingly thunderstruck, her eyes wide and her mouth forming an "o" shape. Her hands were held before her as always, with her index fingers touching, but were stilled in their usual fidgeting. A blush was rapidly coloring her cheeks.

Feeling suddenly awkward, Naruto looked away again. "W-well, anyway...I guess we should…"

" _Naruto-kun_!" Naruto was suddenly cut off by Hinata's voice. Looking back at her, he saw that her blush was threatening to fill up her entire face. "I...I-I...I... _I'm glad to be on a team with you too!_ " she suddenly burst out, speaking louder than Naruto had ever heard her talk before.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, uncomfortably. "Um, y-yeah...me too…" For some reason, his own face was starting to feel warm.

"You two are just precious, you know that?"

Hinata and Naruto nearly jumped out of their skins as another voice suddenly spoke up from the side. Looking to the edge of the clearing, they saw their third teammate leaning against a tree, watching them.

"Ch-Chouji!" Naruto exclaimed. "What are you doing here!?" For some reason, he was embarrassed that Chouji may have seen any of that, but didn't know why.

Chouji gestured over his shoulder. "Asuma-sensei sent me to come get you guys. We finished setting up camp, and dinner's almost ready." He shrugged. "Sorry if I interrupted you guy's moment."

"We weren't having a moment!" Naruto insisted.

"I don't know, that looked pretty _momentary_ to me, Naruto."

"Ch-Chouji-kun!" Naruto and Chouji looked back at their female teammate. Hinata's face was red and she looked embarrassed, but for once she wasn't shrinking back as usual. "I...I'm happy we're on a team with you, too!"

Chouji blinked, then chuckled good-naturedly. "Yeah, yeah, don't worry. I like the both of you, too. Now come on, let's get going already! Grub's on!"

Laughing and joking amongst themselves, the genin of Team Nine made their way back toward camp, a little more of a team than they had been only moments before.

* * *

The next day, Asuma led his students down the road toward their ultimate destination.

It hadn't taken him long to notice that something was very off about his team today. Things had been unusually quiet behind him for some time now. Looking back, he realized what it was. Naruto wasn't being his usual loud, chatty-self today, but was apparently focussing all his attention on keeping a leaf stuck to his forehead as the team kept moving. Atypically, it was Hinata and Chouji that were holding down the conversation for the team.

After a while, Chouji also joined Naruto in doing the leaf-sticking exercise as they walked, Hinata speaking occasionally to offer the boys advice.

Asuma turned back forward, and smirked. The best teams were the ones that made each other stronger, just by being near one another. It looked like he would need to start thinking about what jutsus to teach all of them when they got back to Konoha.

Their morale high, Team Nine made their way down the road toward the Land of Greens, blissfully unaware of what awaited them there.

* * *

 _A few days later…_

A column of smoke rose into the sky over the capital city of the Land of Greens, the only sign to the outside world of the bloodshed that had happened beneath it.

Renga, Jiga, and Ruiga, the three brother shinobi known to the world as the Janin, walked casually up the stone stairs leading to the palace of the feudal lord.

In the end, taking over an entire country had been almost laughably easy.

With the help of their collaborators on the inside, they had very early on identified the location of the barracks that housed the country's small shinobi force, just over fifty in number. In the opening salvo of the conflict, Renga had unleashed the full power of his jutsu on the barracks, incinerating them and all the shinobi inside in a matter of seconds. The smoldering ruins of those barracks were the source of the smoke trail that even now drifted lazily into the sky.

Mounting the top of the stairs, the three Janin made their way into the palace entrance. In the distance, they could still hear the occasional sounds of battle, the clashing of steel on steel, and the screams of pain of the soon to be dead and dying. Their underlings had swept through the castle ahead of them, dealing with the handful of non-shinobi guards who remained, and eliminating all resistance.

The army they had built to help them conquer the land was a small one, just over two-hundred men, all told. But it had proven more than enough for the paltry defenses of this country. The men they had gathered to their cause were mostly outcasts: brigands, outlaws, and the occasional rogue shinobi. All had at least basic level shinobi abilities, nothing special, but more than a match for any commoner with a spear.

Walking through the doors, the Janin entered the palace's main hall. Scattered here and there throughout the room were the dead bodies of a handful of guards and a few others who had resisted. Meanwhile, off to one side of the room, the remainder of the castle staff had been gathered together. Cooks, maids, and various other servants sat huddled together in a terrified mass surrounded by armed henchmen. They shrank back in fear as the Janin passed them by.

As he walked past, Renga took a moment scan over the cowering group of servants, paying particular attention to any young women in the group. These country girls were mostly plain and boring, but there were a few cute ones mixed into the bunch. He didn't stop to get a closer look at any of them, though. There would be time to get _better acquainted_ with his new subjects later. For now, he still had one last piece of business to attend to.

Walking through a set of double doors, Renga and his two brothers entered the throne room of the feudal lord. Here there were even more bodies littering the floor, some of them being checked over by their men to see if they needed to be finished off. Blood from the battle stained many surfaces around the room, splattering the walls and spreading in pools around the corpses on the floor.

In almost surreal contrast, several men in fine clothes stood waiting for them just inside the entrance to the room. They all bowed to the Janin as they entered. One of them, a balding, mustachioed man whom Renga had mentally nicknamed "the prime bootlick", stepped forward to greet them.

"Renga-sama, Jiga-sama, Ruiga-sama...welcome to your new home," he said obsequiously.

These men were the collaborators, the inside-men who had ensured that their victory had been so swift and easy. In truth, this country had fallen to them long before the first blow had been struck. For the past few months, the Janin had slowly but surely secured control, subverting the feudal lord by bribing and buying off more than half of his advisors, councilors, and various officials. Not only had they paved the way for the Janin to take control of the country, but they had also provided them with useful intel, such as the location of the shinobi barracks.

Externally, Renga smiled and thanked the prime bootlick and his collaborator friends for their support, promising wealth and glory for them all in the future of the new Greens Country going forward. On the inside, though, he sneered contemptuously. Each of these men thought themselves so clever, so cunning to have enriched themselves by turning on their feudal lord. They were all small men who had betrayed their lord for trifling amounts of money.

Catching the eye of one of his captains that he had placed over the other men, he discreetly gave the man a signal.

 _As soon as we're done here, kill them all._

These men had served their purpose, and now were of no further use.

Stepping past the collaborators, the three brothers walked along a satin carpet, now stained with blood, to the dais at the end of the room.

There, seated on a small wooden throne, sat the Lord of the Land of Greens. A middle-aged man in his late fifties, dark hair rapidly turning grey, the lord of Greens Country was plain and average in every way, nothing remarkable about him at all, save for the small wooden circlet on his brow, denoting his rank as feudal lord. The feudal lord was flanked on either side by a pair of the Janin's soldiers. On the ground, arrayed in a circle surrounding his throne, lay the corpses of the feudal lord's last half-dozen shinobi retainers, likely the only ones to have escaped the destruction of the barracks, swords and other weapons still held loosely in their cold, dead hands.

Stepping up to the dais, Renga gave a low, mocking bow to the Lord of the Land of Greens. "Greetings, your Lordship. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance." Smirking, Renga raised his eyes and met the gaze of the man seated on the throne. "I confess, I've eagerly awaited this meeting for a long time, myself."

The feudal lord returned Renga's gaze. His hands were clenched tightly around the armrests of the throne, whether from fear or anger, Renga couldn't tell. Regardless, the man did an admirable job of keeping his voice steady as he replied, "Hmph, so you three are the 'Janin' I've heard so much about. As I expected, nothing but a bunch of rowdy young men with nothing better to do then cause trouble for decent folk."

Ruiga, the youngest of the three brothers, cackled at the man's response. "Ha ha! Well, look at the stones on _you_ old man! A pity you couldn't use that to give us a better fight earlier."

The feudal lord glared back at Ruiga. "The Land of Greens has never had need of great implements of war."

Renga sighed and shook his head at the old man. "And it's exactly that soft-heartedness that made you so easy to take down...and betray," he said, gesturing over his shoulder at the traitorous courtiers behind him.

The feudal lord seemed undeterred. "It's true that men like me are often taken advantage of by men like you. But men like you are always brought low in the end. Inevitably, your greed will destroy you...just as it will be for them," he said, also nodding at the men who had betrayed him.

Renga laughed internally. _Oh ho ho...so he's already guessed what we have planned for the collaborators, eh? Well, no matter._

Leaning forward, Renga spoke softly so the men behind him wouldn't be able to hear, "Don't be so sure of that. I'm nothing like you and those other fools back there. I'm not nearly so soft-hearted as that."

Standing back up straight, Renga resumed speaking aloud, "Don't worry about anything though, my lord. My brothers and I will do our best to be proper feudal lords. We have a plan for this country that will lead it to greatness."

The old lord ground his teeth. "Do whatever you want to me, but leave the people out of your scheming!"

To Renga's right, Jiga, their middle brother, began swinging the ball-and-chain end of his kusarigama in a circle, the chain making a whirring noise in the air as it rotated. "They're _our_ people now, old-timer," Jiga said. "We'll do as we want with them."

The Lord of the Land of Greens made no attempt to run or escape. He just sat in his throne glaring at the three brothers who had overthrown him. "Your reign will be short!" he spat.

Whipping his arm forward, Jiga sent the spiked flail careening toward the old man's head. The heavy metal ball slammed right into the feudal lord's left temple, collapsing part of his skull, and killing him instantly. Blood and other matter splattered all over the back of the wooden throne.

Renga shrugged. "It'll outlive yours, that much is for sure."

"Oi, oi. You got that stuff all over the throne." Ruiga complained to his older brother Jiga.

"No need to worry about that," Renga said. "A pitiful chair like that isn't worthy of true feudal lords. Take it outside and burn it with the rest of the garbage," he ordered his men standing nearby.

Stepping forward, two of his men seized the body of the dead feudal lord, another picking up the small wooden chair, and carried both outside, to be added to the pyre they were building on the outskirts of the palace.

As the brothers turned around, another one of their captains rushed up to them, dropping to one knee before them. "My lords!" he said, "We have completed our search of the castle, and there is no sign of the daughter anywhere. She may have already fled the capital."

Renga sighed. The old feudal lord had a daughter, his only heir. Their plan had been to take both father and daughter together, but it looked like the old man may have been slightly more canny than he seemed, and kept their attention focused on him so his daughter could flee.

"That's not good," he said to his brothers. "If the girl is able to escape the country, she could potentially return with forces from another land."

Though the Land of Greens had no major military allies, in this situation that wouldn't matter. The girl was the key to the throne of this country. Any man who was able to claim her hand in marriage could proclaim himself the legitimate feudal lord of the Land of Greens. There were plenty of other men out there just like themselves. All it would take was some enterprising noble with a bit of money and a desire to become a feudal lord, and the Janin's position in this country could potentially become untenable. They needed time to build up their forces and secure their position in this country before they could deal with something like that. They had been banking on the lack of international interest in this country to give them time to do so.

Honestly, Renga hadn't fully decided what he was going to do with the princess himself, yet. He could kill her just as easily as they had killed her father, thus eliminating any other potential claimants to the throne. On the other hand, he could also marry her himself, thus adding a touch of legitimacy to his rule. Of course, he had promised Jiga and Ruiga equal share of the rule of this country, and there was no way they wouldn't recognize that move for what it was, so he would have to deal with them first before he did that. But he planned on taking care of them eventually anyway, so either way ultimately worked for him. He decided he would wait to see what she looked like first, before making up his mind.

That said, it was far better that she be dead, than allowed to threaten their plan. They would need to deal with this quickly, one way or the other.

"Pardon me, my lords," the prime bootlick stepped forward and spoke, "but I believe I may have information that could be pertinent. As I recall, there was a band of merchant peddlers that just recently left the capital. The late feudal lord hired a team of shinobi from another country to provide protection for the caravan as it made it's way to another land."

Renga understood immediately. "There's no way anyone would waste money hiring foreign shinobi to protect a bunch of merchant peasants." It looked like the collaborators had provided one last useful piece of information before they died. Good for them.

Jiga nodded in agreement. "She must have joined the merchant caravan as cover to try to sneak her way out of the country."

Renga nodded. "Agreed. Which means we need to track down this merchant caravan," he said. Glancing out a nearby window, he looked up into the sky. "Ordinarily, I'd just use my jutsu to obliterate whatever area they were in, but…"

The one drawback to his most powerful jutsu was that it required a strong, cloudless sun in order to work. It was already well into the afternoon. By the time they found out where they were, the sun would likely have begun to set, weakening his jutsu to the point of being useless.

Spinning his tonfa around on his arms, the youngest brother, Ruiga, spoke up, "Just leave it to me, big brother. I'll find that girl and bring her back here, myself."

"Very well," Renga replied. "Send a couple of scouts out ahead of you though, to track her down. And take ten men with you."

Ruiga laughed confidently. "Don't underestimate me, Renga. I can deal with whatever protection she has, easily enough."

Ignoring his younger brother's arrogance, Renga continued, "We don't know what sort of shinobi the old man hired, or from what country. Take the men with you as insurance," he advised.

Shrugging casually, Ruiga walked out of the room toward the front entrance.

Making his way to a different door, Renga also exited the room. As the door closed behind him, he heard the first screams of the collaborators before the door cut them off. Walking up to a window, he watched as a new plume of smoke rose into the sky. This likely came from the mass pyre they had built to burn the feudal lord, his dead servants, and soon enough, his betrayers as well.

It didn't matter too much to Renga if his youngest brother took his advice or not. He decided he would send Jiga to clean up after him, anyway. If Renga were lucky, perhaps Ruiga and the foreign shinobi would end up killing one another off. That would kill two birds with one stone, and spare Renga the effort of having to kill at least one of his brothers.

Watching the funereal plume as it rose, Renga smiled cruelly.

One way or another, he would soon be the sole ruler of this country.

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 _A/N:_

 _Thanks as always for reading. Please leave a review, even just a few words are highly appreciated._

 _To those who have been pushing me to include an action scene, I couldn't avoid putting one next chapter if I tried. Please be patient a little longer._

 _As characters go, I think of the Janin as pretty standard stock villains, as you would expect from a filler arc. That said, I actually really enjoyed writing from their perspective this chapter. The cold-blooded way they think of everything was surprisingly fun to write. Let me know what you thought of that part of the chapter._

 _Anyway, I'm starting to really get into the meat of the story now. I don't particularly have a lot of experience writing action sequences, and there's going to be a lot of them, so the updates could potentially slow down. I ask for your patience._

 _Regards,_

 _MD_


	5. First Blood

**Ch.5: First Blood**

* * *

It was Hinata who spotted them first.

The morning had dawned bright and clear on the day Team Nine was to rendezvous with the merchant caravan they had been hired to guard. As soon as his team had broken camp and set out for the day, Asuma had ordered his female subordinate to scan the area with her byakugan every few minutes and to notify him if she spotted a large group of people moving down the road ahead.

It was mid-morning when Hinata finally spoke up, saying that she saw a group of about thirty people with carts travelling down the road headed straight toward them.

Asuma immediately called a halt, deciding that they would wait until the caravan was in visual range before moving to meet up with them. He ordered his students to rest up and get a drink of water while they waited. He smirked to himself. They would need plenty of energy for when the _true mission_ started.

As his students rested, Asuma knelt down to the ground and opened up one of his storage scrolls, retrieving from it the sealed away box of "special equipment" that the Hokage had given him a week earlier during the mission briefing. When Naruto looked quizzically at the box and asked what was inside it, Asuma replied simply, "Don't worry about it."

A few minutes later a small column of people came into view, cresting the top of a small hill about a quarter-mile down the road. As Hinata had said, the group was only about thirty people all-told. There were only two carts, though they were piled high with barrels and other heavy looking containers for carrying goods. What's more, there weren't even any animals to help move the cargo, as both carts were hand-drawn, pulled along by a single man up front and pushed from behind by several other men when going up hills. This was an incredibly small caravan, and yet, for the people of the Land of Greens, it was probably still a big deal when this tiny band came to town.

As Team Nine and the caravan drew closer together Asuma prepared to hail the merchants from a distance. Before he could do so, however, Naruto beat him to it, waving his arms in the air and shouting at the caravan, "Yahoo! Heeeeey everybody!"

Asuma rolled his eyes and made a mental note to have a talk with Naruto about deferring to the team leader, but didn't say anything for the moment.

As the caravan came to a sudden halt, two young men who had been assisting in pushing one of the carts dashed out ahead of the rest and interposed themselves between the shinobi and the merchants.

"Who're you? Identify yourselves!" the taller one of the two said sharply.

Asuma's eyebrow quirked slightly at the brusqueness of the men's response. Their wariness seemed slightly unwarranted given that they were still less than a day's travel from the capital of the Land of Greens, and Team Nine had approached the caravan from out in the open. Still, he made no comment on it for the moment. Looking the two men over he noticed that the clothing they wore was of a notably different style to that worn by the other members of the caravan.

 _Probably a couple of over-enthusiastic new-hires,_ he mentally concluded.

"We're shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village, sent here to protect you guys! See...check it out!" Naruto said, enthusiastically pointing at the leaf emblem on his forehead-protector.

Asuma internally rolled his eyes again at the boy's antics. _Speaking of over-enthusiastic new-hires…_

Staring hard at Naruto's headband for a moment, the two men glanced at one another, then for some reason turned to meet the gaze of a third man standing a few feet behind them. "Could they be…" the shorter of the two men trailed off uncertainly.

Clearing his throat and stepping forward, Asuma decided it was time he took control of the situation. "Ahem, as my subordinate was saying, we are Konohagakure's Team Nine. We received a commission from the Lord of the Land of Greens to provide protection for a merchant caravan travelling from his country to the Land of Birds." Kneeling down to the ground, he opened up the lid of the box he had been carrying. "In addition, we were also given this to help identify ourselves."

Everyone, including the three genin, leaned in to try to see what was in the box. Before anyone could see anything more than folded pieces of cloth, however, a small figure darted forward from amongst the caravaners and snatched one of the grey garments from out of the box. Running back, the figure, a small girl, scrambled atop one the carts, where she sat apparently carefully inspecting the piece of clothing.

"It's true!" the young girl chirped. "These people are from the Hidden Leaf Village, like we were told to expect. See?" Turning back around, the girl held up the garment for all to see.

The object was, of course, a plain grey overcoat, unremarkable overall, except for one detail. Stitched into the middle of the back was a white square on which a message written in bright-red lettering was displayed prominently. The lettering read: **Leaf Village Moving Service**.

The three genin's jaws all dropped.

"Wh...what is _that_!?" Chouji stuttered.

"Oh yeah, about that…" Asuma replied pleasantly, "the Hokage sent those along for you guys to wear during the mission. Since you all were so driven to go on a C-rank mission, he figured you'd be eager to help out."

Chouji groaned, looking glumly at the big, heavy carts. Hinata sighed, looking downcast, but resigned.

Naruto was silent, glaring balefully right at Asuma. "I _fucking hate you_ ," he whispered to his sensei.

Asuma smiled sweetly. " _I know._ "

* * *

It was several hours later when the caravan finally stopped for a rest at the top of a large hill. The three genin of Team Nine immediately flopped down in exhaustion, drinking deeply from their canteens. The hill on which they now rested was the tallest hill in the area, and offered a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. Unfortunately the road they were on went right over it, and thus the genin had spent the last half-hour pushing the heavy carts up a steep incline.

After Asuma-sensei's revelation of the true nature of the mission, the caravaners had all had a good laugh at the unfortunate genin's expense. After this Team Nine had become acquainted with some of the caravan's members.

The rambunctious young girl who had revealed the jacket's writing was named Momiji. Her grandmother, Ms. Miyako, was apparently the de facto leader of the caravan.

The two young men who had intercepted them when they first met up with the caravan had introduced themselves as Kikusuke and Yurinoshin. Upon giving their names, they had also introduced another man, their cousin Shun. As Asuma had suspected, the three were new to the caravan, having just joined up in the Land of Greens.

When the caravan had set out again after meeting up with Team Nine, the genin had joined Kikusuke, Yurinoshin, and a few other men in pushing the heavily-laden carts from behind. Meanwhile, Asuma walked casually beside the caravan, explaining to an irate Naruto that he alone would provide all the protection the caravan would likely need, though he mostly spent the time chatting with various members of the caravan.

As he walked, Asuma did keep a general eye on the group's surroundings, doing the job of providing security for the caravan. At the same time, however, he also surreptitiously watched the trio from the Land of Greens. In particular, he kept a close eye on the third man, Shun. Unlike his two cousins, Shun did not help with pushing the carts, but walked alongside them, like Asuma. Yurinoshin explained that their cousin was in poor health, though Asuma personally doubted this was the reason.

It had taken Asuma all of ten seconds to realize that something was off with this "Shun" character. His face was clean-shaven and somewhat effeminate, with his hair swept up into the oddly tall cap he wore, meaning it was likely longer than it appeared. His small frame was covered with baggy, shapeless clothing. Most tellingly, when he spoke his voice sounded slightly off, as though he was deliberately trying to make his voice sound deeper than it naturally was.

On being introduced to him, Asuma had put on a friendly smile and greeted Shun, walking up to him and amiably holding out his hand to shake. Shun had paused, his eyes darting briefly to his two cousins, before hesitantly shaking Asuma's hand. That had confirmed it for Asuma. Shun's fingernails had been very recently filed down to the quick, but even so, there was no disguising those slender, delicate hands.

 _Should've worn gloves, "Shun-san"._

Asuma was entirely certain of it now. This was a woman disguised as a man. But why, was the question. It was true that, in the wilds between population centers, bandits could be a problem, and it was sometimes safer for a woman to travel as a man in order to avoid undue attention. That said, the Land of Greens wasn't particularly known for such problems, and it seemed especially unnecessary in a caravan that already had several women in it, and had hired protection to boot.

It may have nothing at all to do with his mission, which was why Asuma had as of yet said nothing. All the same, it was a potential complication that needed to be watched closely.

Fortunately, Asuma had a good reason to keep looking in Shun's direction. For once, Naruto's obnoxious personality was working in his favor. For most of the day since meeting up with the caravan, Naruto and Shun had been bickering back and forth constantly. For whatever reason, Naruto's personality seemed to get on Shun's nerves (not that Asuma couldn't relate), and Shun had seen fit to lob a few unnecessary insults Naruto's way. Naruto, of course, was incapable of taking an insult lying down, and proceeded to shout at Shun whenever the job of pushing the carts would allow. Normally, Asuma would have intervened and told Naruto to shut up and focus on the job, but for now he was curious to see how Shun behaved in order to get a handle on her personality. Anything he learned now could prove important later.

For their part, Yurinoshin and Kikusuke seemed somewhat embarrassed by their cousin's snide behavior, but didn't say anything to stop it, either, which was interesting. If they were truly related, Asuma would've expected them to scold their cousin if they disapproved of her behavior. Certainly, in Asuma's own family, they had never hesitated when it came to calling one another out. Instead, the two seemed to defer to Shun, and never opposed her, even when they disagreed. Their relationship was less like family, and more like master and subjects. Something to keep in mind, no doubt.

As the entire party rested atop the hill they had just ascended, Asuma walked toward his students, who appeared to be chatting with Kikusuke.

"I fear I must apologize for my cousin's behavior," Kikusuke said to Naruto. "I'm afraid Shun can be a bit unreasonable at times."

Naruto waved him off. "Don't apologize, it's not your fault," he said, glaring in the direction of the most recent object of his ire. If Shun noticed Naruto's glare from the other side of the clearing, he gave no indication.

Noticing their teacher approaching, Hinata spoke up, "Ah, Asuma-sensei! We needed to talk to you…"

"You guys are pushing the carts for at least a couple more hours," Asuma said, preempting the request he suspected was coming. "I've already talked to Ms. Miyako about letting you kids have evenings off from pushing, so you can have the energy to get a little training in when the caravan stops for the day."

In truth, making sure his students had enough time and energy to train may not have even been necessary. Hinata had already long since finished the tree-walking training, and even Naruto and Chouji were getting close. Hinata's success he had somewhat expected, but Naruto and Chouji were progressing with the training even faster than he had anticipated, thanks in no small part, he suspected, to Hinata's assistance.

Naruto scowled up at his sensei, but didn't erupt like Asuma half expected him to. "Not that, you jerk," Naruto replied caustically. "We've got a serious problem here."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

Turning his opened canteen upside-down, Chouji held it out to his commander and gestured to the single, solitary drop of water that fell out. "We're all out of water," he explained. "Even Kikusuke-san says he's run out."

The tall young man nodded apologetically, displaying his own empty, upside-down canteen.

"Hmm, I see…" Asuma responded. That was actually a legitimate gripe.

Spotting the caravan's youngest member, Asuma called out to her, "Oi, Momiji-chan!"

Turning her head at hearing her name called, the impish little girl smiled and darted over to the group. "What's up?" she said pleasantly.

Gesturing toward the others, Asuma explained, "We're starting to get low on water. I assume your caravan carries some water reserves with you?"

Momiji nodded and tilted her head. "A little. We're actually a little low ourselves at the moment, but we're planning to fill up again soon."

The girl's answer caught Asuma off guard. "The caravan is low on water!?" he said in genuine surprise. "Didn't you just set out yesterday?"

Momiji nodded and replied, "Our caravan probably doesn't carry as much water in reserve as other caravans do. Granny generally finds us fresh water sources along the way."

Asuma quirked an eyebrow. "Your grandmother does?" he said. "How does she do that?"

"With these!" an old voice suddenly spoke up from behind Asuma.

Turning around, Asuma saw the old woman herself approaching them, a pair of bent metal rods held in her hand.

"Huh? What're those?" Naruto asked.

"They're dowsing rods." Momiji supplied helpfully.

"Uh...dowsing?"

"It's an ancient technique passed down by our forebears," the elderly Ms. Miyako explained. "It can be used to find hidden water sources, or conversely to find items you've lost or misplaced. You simply hold the rods like so and focus intently on whatever you are looking to find. The rods will react by getting closer together when you are getting closer to that item."

"Granny can only ever use it to find water, though," Momiji quipped.

"Hush child," Ms. Miyako said to her granddaughter. "Now come along. I know there's a spring nearby. I'll get you pointed in the right direction, and then you can lead these nice people the rest of the way to get filled up on water."

"Okay," Momiji replied, following her grandmother away from the others to the edge of the camp.

"Huh...that's pretty amazing!" Naruto said in awe. "Can you really use something like that to find missing items?"

"No, you can't," Chouji said quietly to Naruto, making sure to speak so that Momiji and her grandmother wouldn't hear him. "People have believed in dowsing for centuries. In some places they believe you can use it to find precious metals underground. Sometimes it's water, or just general lost items. Regardless, though, it's all a lot of baloney. Dowsing's just a myth, it doesn't really work."

Suddenly speaking up from the side, Asuma responded to his student's explanation, "That's generally true," he confirmed, "but even so...it's possible that Miyako-san's technique _might_ actually be real."

"Huh!? What are you talking about, sensei?" Chouji said, surprised that his teacher would actually speak up in defense of such a thing.

Instead of responding directly, Asuma turned and addressed his female student. "Hinata," he said, "why don't you activate your byakugan and see if you can see anything unusual."

"Um, okay," Hinata responded. Running through the familiar set of hand seals, she activated her doujutsu. When her expanded vision settled on the old woman, her eyes widened. "Ther...there's chakra!" she said in surprise. Focusing her enhanced sight, she carefully observed the old woman. "I can see chakra flowing into the dowsing rods and expanding outward like a ripple!"

Asuma smiled. "I suspected as much. What Miyako-san is doing is actually a massively powered-down version of a shinobi technique called chakra sensing. A skilled sensor-type shinobi can detect certain objects and especially other chakra signatures from up to miles away. It looks like Miyako-san can use it to detect sources of fresh water nearby. I'll bet she has a water elemental-affinity…"

"But wait, that means…" Naruto also turned to look at the elderly woman and her granddaughter, "...that old woman is a _shinobi_!?" he said in absolute shock.

Asuma shook his head. "Of course not, Naruto. Shinobi may be unique in our use of chakra for ninjutsu, but everyone technically has chakra."

"But sensei," Hinata piped up, "if she's not a shinobi, who taught her how to use a chakra technique?"

"Probably no one," Asuma replied. "Over the years, Miyako-san likely trained herself subconsciously to use her chakra in this way. In fact, she probably isn't even aware herself that that's what she's doing. She just assumes that dowsing actually works. Like I said, every human-being has chakra, and while this doesn't mean much for the average person, it's not at all unheard of to encounter people throughout the world who have learned to use chakra in various ways. It's always good to keep an eye out for things like this. You never know what kinds of interesting techniques you might come across."

As Asuma wrapped up his explanation, Momiji turned back to the shinobi and waved to them from across the camp, "Hey! Granny says there's a natural spring just over this way! Come on, I'll lead you guys there!"

* * *

It was only a few minutes later that the mission began to take a turn. The first indication Asuma got was when Hinata returned to the caravan alone.

Asuma turned to look at the Hyuuga girl in surprise. It had been only a couple of minutes since she had left the group with Naruto and Chouji, following Momiji to where the young girl claimed there was fresh water to be found. That she had returned so quickly, alone and empty-handed, was odd.

As soon as she spotted him, his female student made her way quickly over to him.

"What's up?" he asked her as she arrived to stand before him.

"Um...sensei…" Hinata said hesitantly, fidgeting slightly more than was normal as she spoke. "We thought...uh, that is...there's something we thought you should see." Asuma detected a note of uncertainty in her voice.

Asuma raised an eyebrow. "Naruto and Chouji?"

"Th-they stayed with Momiji-chan...um, this way." She said, pointing in the direction the four kids had left in only moments before.

Asuma stroked his beard as he replied, "Hm, is it far? We shouldn't leave the caravan completely alone if we can help it."

Hinata shook her head quickly. "N-no, it's not far at all. It's not even beyond the range of my byakugan. I can keep an eye on the caravan from there."

Asuma nodded in acceptance. "Alright then, lead on."

Following his student away from the clearing, Asuma arrived a mere moment later where the other two genin and Momiji were gathered. As Hinata had said, the spot was no more than fifty meters from the road where the caravaners were resting. Naruto, Chouji, and Momiji stood at the edge of a cliff at what appeared to be the apex of the hill. All three appeared to be looking at something off in the distance.

Naruto heard his sensei and Hinata's approach first. "Ah, Asuma-sensei!" he said, causing the other two to also turn around. "Look at that!" Naruto pointed at something off in the distance.

Walking up to the lip of the cliff, Asuma looked off in the direction his student was pointing. Sure enough, he spotted what had his students concerned. "Smoke?" he muttered, just loudly enough for the others to hear.

Naruto nodded and responded, "Yeah, we thought that was a little weird, so we figured we'd better let you know."

"I still think it's probably nothing," Chouji said.

Asuma nodded while carefully looking at the smoke trail in the distance, replying somewhat off-handedly, "Could be nothing...could be something. It was the right call, letting me know."

Though he kept his voice neutral, internally, Asuma began to feel somewhat concerned. Even from this distance, that smoke trail looked too big and too dark to be something as benign as a campfire. Something large was burning. Just as important was the direction the smoke was coming from. Asuma looked down at the valley spread out beneath him. The road they were travelling on snaked its way down the hill they had just ascended and then straightened out in the valley, heading due west into the forest, and right in the direction of the smoke on the horizon.

"Momiji-chan…" Asuma addressed the young girl. When she turned to look at him he pointed at the smoke and asked, "The capital of Greens Country is in that direction, isn't it?"

The girl nodded slowly. "Yes. That's where we were just yesterday."

"Hm." Asuma turned back towards the smoke and began pondering his next course of action.

After a moment, Hinata spoke up from next to him, "W-what should we do, Sensei?"

Making up his mind, Asuma nodded and turned to face his genin subordinates. "You three," he said, "are going to take Momiji-chan and go fill up on water like you planned. When you get back to the clearing get the caravan moving again. Not too quickly...just get them moving like normal. Momiji-chan," he addressed the girl, kneeling down so he was on eye-level with her, "do you think you could keep all this to yourself for now? Not forever, I just don't want to worry everyone before I can confirm it's not a problem. Alright?"

Nodding hesitantly, the girl answered, "O-okay…"

"That goes for you all as well," Asuma said to Naruto, Hinata, and Chouji. "Just keep this to yourselves for now. We don't want to panic the caravaners needlessly. Just get them moving again, and keep an eye on your surroundings."

"What are you going to do, Sensei?" Chouji asked.

Pointing at the smoke in the distance, Asuma replied, "I'm going to go check it out, obviously. I'll be back within the hour. I leave the protection of the caravan to you while I'm gone. Do you all understand?"

"Yes sensei," the three genin responded together. Hinata looked nervous, Chouji was passive, and Naruto appeared decidedly unhappy.

Asuma nodded again. "Good. Be back in a bit."

Leaping off the edge of the cliff, Asuma propelled himself in the direction of the smoke cloud, determined to learn as much as he could, and then get back to the caravan as quickly as possible. All the while he did his best to ignore the all-too-familiar chill sensation creeping slowly up his spine.

It was just a simple C-rank mission. It couldn't possibly go that poorly.

* * *

Several minutes later, Naruto and the others had rejoined the caravan, their canteens refilled with fresh water. With only a little bit of prodding, they got the caravaners up and moving again, and soon enough the three genin again found themselves pushing the heavily-laden carts down the road.

As he pushed behind the rear cart with Hinata, Naruto did his best to push while simultaneously keeping watch on their surroundings. It would have been simple enough, if it weren't for…

"Oi, Mover!" Shun snapped at Naruto. "Quit slacking off and push! We're falling behind the other cart."

Glaring at the annoying man, Naruto loudly replied, "Shut up! I'm not slacking off."

"You clearly are," Shun replied with a sneer

. "I see you looking around all over the place. Someone as dim as you can't do two things at once, so quit it and focus on pushing. Your captain told you to help the caravan."

" _I'm doing...!_!" Naruto sharply cut himself off. Grinding his teeth, he turned away from Shun and glared forward. _I'm doing what sensei told me to do!_ He thought angrily. _But I can't tell him that without letting everyone else know there might be a problem!_

Naruto's already fragile patience was beginning to wear dangerously thin. In truth, Shun's insults weren't what was really bothering Naruto. Or rather, Shun was only poking Naruto's already wounded ego.

He had tried to temper his expectations with this mission, he really had! Guarding merchants may not have been something extraordinary, but it was something real! Not like babysitting, or painting fences, or walking dogs...real shinobi work! Naruto didn't honestly expect to get to save a princess or something like that...but he had thought that maybe, just maybe, he would get the opportunity to feel like a real shinobi at some point during this mission. But of course, Asuma-sensei and the Hokage had to go and ruin that too, and turn Naruto's first C-rank mission into just another menial chore. And to top it off, the first time it seemed like something interesting might be happening, Asuma-sensei had run off to check it out on his own, leaving Naruto and the others to continue pushing carts like a bunch of freaking pack mules.

Seeming to take pity on Naruto, Kikusuke spoke up, chastising his cousin, "Shun...lay off him a little. He's probably just trying to keep watch for the caravan."

Shun snorted in derision. "You and I both know that his commander is the only real protection this caravan has. That's why he told these kids to help with pushing the carts." Staring haughtily at Naruto, he continued, "If you can't be a decent shinobi, you should at least put your all into being a useful pack mule."

And with that, Naruto's patience snapped. _That tears it!_

"Oi! You!" he snapped at an older man, one of the movers who was taking a break walking beside the caravan, "Take over for me!"

Taking his hands off the back of the cart, Naruto moved away and dashed up to the leading cart, where Chouji was pushing while Momiji sat atop the cart itself. The mover he had addressed was forced to jump quickly and assume Naruto's place behind the rear cart.

"W-wait! Naruto-kun!" Offering a hurried apology to the movers that were forced to take over for them, Hinata ran up to the lead cart where Naruto was now walking next to Chouji.

"Listen, you guys…" Naruto said when Hinata had caught up with him and Chouji, just loudly enough so that the two of them could hear "I think we should go after Asuma-sensei."

"What!?" Hinata said, alarmed.

"What for?" Chouji asked.

"To help him scout! I mean, more eyes means more information, right? Hinata's byakugan is the perfect scouting tool, so if you think about it, he's wasting resources by just leaving us here. Besides, we potentially could back him up in case there's a problem!"

Hinata pressed her fingers together nervously. "Um...Asuma-sensei told us to stay with the caravan…"

Naruto waved her off. "That's just busy-work and you know it. Come on, don't you guys want to do at least one shinobi-like activity this whole mission?"

"I don't know, Naruto," Chouji said, shaking his head. "Asuma-sensei left the caravan in our care. He'll be pissed if we just leave it alone."

Seeming to think for a moment, Naruto suddenly smirked. "Well then, if we don't actually leave the caravan alone, he'll have no reason to complain, right?"

Before Hinata or Chouji could ask him what he meant, Naruto suddenly slammed his hands together into a hand-seal. "Shadow-clone jutsu!"

With a sequence of bangs and clouds of smoke, a dozen copies of Naruto burst into existence, much to the shock of the caravaners, several of whom leaped back in surprise.

"All right, then," Naruto said, addressing his clones. "You three, help push the carts. The rest of you spread out and guard the caravan." Ignoring the complaints of the three clones who had been ordered to push carts, Naruto turned back to his teammates with a grin. "There. No problem now, right?"

"Hey, what's going on here!?" Shun demanded while walking up to them, doing his best to push away the Naruto clone that had apparently been subconsciously assigned to kick him in the shins.

"Shut up, prick. No one asked you," Naruto said dismissively before turning back to Chouji and Hinata. "Well, look...I'm going. You guys can come too or stay here if you want."

Without waiting another moment, Naruto turned and dashed back down the road in the direction the caravan had come from.

Hinata was stuck, looking desperately back and forth between Chouji and the road Naruto had just run down.

Chouji gave a long-suffering sigh. Nodding in the direction Naruto had just left in, he said to Hinata, "You'd better go after him. We wouldn't want to leave him alone either."

Hinata looked back at Chouji in surprise. "Um, what will you do?"

"I'm gonna stick with the caravan," Chouji replied. "It's probably for the best that at least one of us stays here."

Nodding, Hinata responded to Chouji appreciatively, "Thank you, Chouji-kun."

Taking off down the road, Hinata ran as hard as she could to catch up with Naruto.

* * *

Asuma held a pair of binoculars up to his eyes and peered into the distance. He had run at high speed for a while to get closer to the smoke, and then left the road and run a short way into the forest in order to ascend another hill that he hoped would provide a somewhat better view of the capital of the Land of Greens on the horizon. He still couldn't make out the city itself in the distance, but he could tell something new about the smoke.

Asuma cursed under his breath.

The smoke didn't come from just a single source, anymore, but appeared to come from multiple large and small fires spread out over an area. Asuma knew all too well what that meant.

A battle. The capital of Greens Country was in flames.

Turning around, Asuma took off in the direction of the caravan. He didn't need to get any closer, he had seen enough to know that he needed to get back to the caravan now.

As he ran, Asuma felt the chill feeling in his spine transform into a sinking feeling in the pit of his gut. It was an instinctive feeling honed by years of dangerous work as a shinobi. The feeling he got when the shit was about to hit the fan.

 _The capital of the Land of Greens has been attacked._ He thought to himself. _And I'm guarding a caravan containing a disguised female VIP and her two bodyguards…_

Pushing himself to run at speeds available only to a top jounin, Asuma grit his teeth. _Shinobi Rule #47: There's no such thing as coincidence._

He needed to be back at the caravan already.

* * *

Naruto moved down the road at a fast clip. The trees to sides of the road blurred together as he sped by, covering the ground it had taken the caravan hours to cross in a matter of minutes. Sending chakra into his legs he was able to move at speeds unreachable for any civilian. After a week of walking, and most of a day pushing heavy carts, it felt good to finally let loose and run flat out.

Behind him, Naruto knew Hinata was following, doing her best to catch up. Rather than slowing down for her, Naruto had put on a little more speed as soon as he had detected her. He had a feeling that as soon as she caught him, Hinata would try guilting him into returning to the caravan, so he put on just enough speed to stay just out of her reach without losing her completely. He wanted to get a little closer to the smoke before they stopped, so they could at least do some scouting before they turned back.

One flaw in Naruto's plan was that he hadn't really calculated the distance between themselves and the smoke, and so didn't really know how far they needed to go before reconnoitering the area. After what seemed like a decent amount of time to him, he stopped at a spot in the road that looked good.

Less than a minute later, Hinata pulled up beside him, pausing only a moment to catch her breath. Her stamina may not have been as good as Naruto's, but it had always been decent, and after their commencement team "exercise" and Asuma-sensei's training, this amount of running was really nothing.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata spoke, planning to plead with Naruto to return to the caravan.

"What do you think, Hinata?" Naruto interrupted her, not giving her a chance to say what she had been planning. "Do you think we're close enough to get a better look at the smoke now?"

Shaking her head and letting out a frustrated breath, Hinata replied, "No. We may be closer now, but we're also at a lower elevation. We won't really have a better view from here than we had from the hill we were on before."

Naruto thought about this for a moment. "Hm, what about your byakugan? Can you see anything from here with that?"

Hinata shook her head. "My range isn't that good. Honestly, compared to most of the adult members of the Hyuuga Clan, my byakugan's range is tiny," she said. She didn't mention that her cousin and younger sister also had far superior range.

"Hmmmmm…" Stunted for a moment, Naruto pondered their options.

Seeing an opportunity, Hinata decided to go for it. "Naruto-kun, we really should go back…" she began.

Shaking his head sharply, Naruto replied, "No way...not yet. We'll keep getting closer if we have to, but I'm not going back until we've at least done a _little_ scouting."

An idea occurring to him, Naruto snapped his fingers. "I've got it! We'll use the tree-walking technique!" He turned to face Hinata. "Use your byakugan to find the tallest tree in the area. Then we'll climb up to the top, and see if we can see anything from there."

"Um, Naruto-kun...you haven't finished the tree-walking training yet…" she said somewhat hesitantly, worried she would make him mad.

Seemingly unoffended, Naruto waved off her concerns. "That's just because the training requires you to go all the way to the top in one go. If I run from branch to branch, I can get up to the top...maybe not as fast as you can, but still." Pushing onward, he resumed, "But don't worry about that. Just turn on your byakugan and see if you can find us a good tree to use."

Sighing, Hinata decided to give in for the moment. She hoped that maybe humoring him in this would get Naruto to return to the caravan a little faster.

Running through the familiar series of hand-seals, Hinata activated her bloodline-limit. Doing a cursory scan of the trees in their area, as far as her limited range would allow, Hinata turned back to Naruto. Pointing off to the side of the road, she spoke, "There's a pretty good-sized fir tree over th-GET DOWN!"

Naruto suddenly felt himself being thrown back as Hinata slammed into him, tackling him bodily to the ground. He found himself lying on his back with Hinata on top of him, his eyes staring up into the sky.

Before he could even begin to get his wits about him and ask Hinata what the heck she was doing, he became suddenly aware of a new sound appearing out of nowhere and rapidly getting louder, a slicing, almost buzzing sort of noise. As he watched, a series of grey, metallic objects cut swiftly through the air just a few feet above him, rending through the space he and Hinata had been occupying just a second beforehand.

 _Those were...shuriken._ Naruto thought, uncomprehendingly. Suddenly his eyes widened in shock as comprehension dawned on him. _We're under attack!_

" _Move!_ " Hinata screamed in Naruto's face, leaping off him and rolling to her right.

All at once Naruto's training took over. As soon as Hinata's weight was off him he threw his legs up and over his head, executing a backwards roll, before pushing off the ground with a chakra-enhanced shove that sent him soaring backwards through the air, his grey movers jacket coming off and fluttering down to the ground as he did so. Completing his rotation, he landed facing the direction the attacks had come from, just in time to see his jacket get nailed harshly to the ground, impaled by a half-dozen kunai that slammed point-first into the road where he and Hinata had been laying. Without needing to think about it, Naruto entered a ready stance and drew a kunai. To his left he saw that Hinata had risen and done the same.

"Well what do you know," a voice said from above and to the side of the road, "they actually managed to dodge that."

"I guess they're shinobi after all," another voice replied in a seemingly bored tone, "...if just barely."

Looking up, Naruto and Hinata got their first look at their attackers. Standing on a tree branch just to the side of the road, two men stared down at them with cold malice. The two wore nearly identical clothing in what appeared to be a kind of uniform: green, sleeveless shirts and matching fingerless, arm-length gloves; plain, brown pants under a grey kilt-like wrapping that was held up with a white obi at the waist. Each man had a sword belted to his left hip. Their faces were mostly obscured by black face masks that covered everything below the bridge of their nose and their eyes. The one notable difference between the two men was that the taller man had his hair held up in a ponytail, while the shorter man wore a black bandana, leaving his face entirely covered except for his eyes.

Hinata felt fear beginning to take hold of her as she looked up at the two enemies. _They're...they're shinobi!_ She thought, trembling slightly as she met the men's heartless gaze.

Naruto recovered his voice first. "Who're you guys!?" he shouted at the two shinobi. "Why are you attacking us?"

Seemingly ignoring Naruto's question, the shorter ninja spoke to his comrade, "Hm, those headbands...looks like these two are from the Hidden Leaf Village."

Nodding, his counterpart replied, "Must be the foreign shinobi we were told to expect. Hmph, if this is all they've got we could probably take the target ourselves. No need to wait for Ruiga-sama."

Leaping down from the tree branch, the two shinobi landed in the road and began walking sedately toward Naruto and Hinata. "Hey, kid…" the taller, pony-tailed man continued speaking to Naruto, "...there's a merchant caravan just up ahead, right? How far away is it? Are they still following the main road? Tell us what you know, and we'll consider letting you and your friend scurry back to your home village."

Listening carefully to the man's words, Hinata's eyes widened in surprise. _They know about the caravan! But...how?_

Incensed by the man's words, Naruto replied, "Screw you! We're not telling you guys anything!"

The other enemy shinobi chuckled darkly at Naruto's words. "You don't get it, kid," he said. "We don't really need your help to find the caravan. He was giving you the chance to run away. There's no point sacrificing yourself for a bunch of worthless peddlers, right? I'd tell you not to look a gift horse in the mouth next time...but there's no point in teaching a lesson to a corpse!"

As if on cue, the two shinobi went from walking to suddenly dashing straight at Naruto and Hinata, both of them drawing their swords in the blink of an eye.

Caught off guard, Naruto blocked the man's first slash with his kunai, then deflected the next slash as it came in from above, all while rapidly backpedaling as his opponent's momentum pushed him back. _Crap!_ he thought, _I didn't set my feet properly to hold against a charge!_ Pushed back more and more, Naruto desperately defended against his opponent's furious attacks. _I gotta create some distance!_

Seeing his opportunity when his opponent slightly over-swung his blade, Naruto leapt backwards, putting several feet between him and his enemy. He threw his kunai at the man to try to stall him even more, drawing a replacement dagger out of its holster just as quickly.

The man easily swatted the kunai away with his blade and resumed pushing after Naruto. This time, however, Naruto was ready, and met his charge head-on, holding his ground as he blocked sword with kunai. Acting on instinct now, Naruto pushed back against his enemy, shoving the man's sword back and rushing in for a counterattack. This turned out to be a mistake. The man's greater height and strength, combined with his weapon's much greater reach, gave him a distinct advantage over Naruto's far smaller body and kunai. With relative ease the man was able to use his sword's length to keep Naruto back out of striking distance, and soon enough launched a counterattack of his own. Within a matter of seconds, Naruto found himself once again falling back, forced to do nothing but defend. _Damn it!_ he thought.

Meanwhile, Hinata was not having much greater luck against the ponytailed shinobi.

Using her kunai, Hinata blocked his sword strike from the side, and then neatly deflected his follow up swing from above. Her opponent then stepped back slightly, before rushing in with a sword thrust aimed at Hinata's middle, which she nimbly dodged to the side of. This left him in an awkward position of having his sword held straight out while his opponent moved to his exposed left.

Hinata's eyes widened. _He's open!_ She realized, seeing that her opponent was now overextended. _I can counterattack!...But, if he reverses his grip, he could potentially cut me from the side…_

Instead of countering, Hinata stepped back and prepared for her enemy's next move. Recovering his stance, the swordsman rushed at Hinata again and delivered two more sword strikes from above, both of which she blocked. Bringing his sword up again, the shinobi feigned another downward slash, before checking his swing and bringing his sword around to strike from the side instead. Not fooled, Hinata swiftly dodged back, the sword missing by a hair's breadth, but not touching her all the same. Caught off guard, the enemy shinobi overswung and was thrown off balance.

Hinata once more found herself facing her opponent's unguarded side. _He's vulnerable...but if I get in close and he strikes out with his elbow, he could knock me off balance and finish me…_

This continued on for some time, with Hinata neatly blocking or dodging all of her opponent's attacks, but nonetheless unable to capitalize on any of the openings she created. Internally, Hinata was beginning to despair. Every idea she came up with seemed to defeat itself before it could even begin to come to fruition. In spite of the fact that she was managing to keep her opponent at bay, counter-attacking seemed impossible. What's more, her opponent was slowly beginning to adjust to her style. Already her arm was starting to hurt as she was forced to block more of his heavy blows with her kunai, instead of dodging them.

 _I can't win._ She realized, dread beginning to take hold. _It's impossible...there's no way I could beat someone so much older than me..._

With her byakugan still active, Hinata could see Naruto's fight happening simultaneously. Naruto was being pushed back more and more, and Hinata could tell he was beginning to falter as his opponent's furious assault pushed his defenses to the brink.

Seeing this gave her just enough impetus to act. _I've...I've got to do something!_ She thought. _I've got to try!_ After a few moments, Hinata saw her next opportunity, as her opponent again missed his swing and went off balance. This time Hinata rushed in, aiming for the man's exposed flank and thrusting her kunai straight forward.

Suddenly, before Hinata could react, the man's hand detached from his sword and snaked out, catching Hinata's thrusting arm by the wrist.

For a moment, everything froze, and Hinata found herself overextended and caught, unable to move or escape. Cold realization swept over her. _He...he baited me!_

Looking up, Hinata found herself staring into the heartless gaze of her opponent. She could tell from the way the corners of his eyes crinkled that he was smirking under his mask. "That was the wrong time to counterattack," he said softly, his voice laced with amusement.

Suddenly yanking her held wrist back and down, the enemy shinobi pulled her fully off balance, leaving her unable to react at all. Meanwhile his other hand, still holding his sword, lifted the weapon up, preparing to bring the blade down in a wicked arc that would end Hinata's life.

In that moment, Hinata's life flashed before her eyes...every painful, depressing, pathetic moment of it. _In the end...I really couldn't do anything at all. I'm sorry, everyone. I'm sorry...Naruto-kun…_

Her enemy had just begun to bring his weapon down, when suddenly his head twisted bizarrely to the side, impacted by a large fist attached to a thick, heavily muscled forearm. So powerful was the strike that the shinobi went flying, tossed through the air like a ragdoll, before slamming into a tree on the side of the road, impacting into the trunk with a sickening crack. Her byakugan still active, Hinata could clearly see into the man's body. She saw his chakra network, and as such she saw the very instant when his chakra stopped circulating. Within a few seconds, the once clear lines of his chakra circulatory system began to blur. His chakra, no longer held in motion within the chakra pathways, began to disperse throughout his body. Within a few hours, she knew, the chakra would dissipate entirely, leaving the body naught but an empty hunk of meat.

Hinata knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she had just witnessed a person die for the first time.

Turning her attention back to what had saved her, she saw that the fist that had struck the rogue shinobi was attached to a large, familiar frame. "A...Asuma-sensei…" she stammered out in shock.

Of course, Hinata wasn't the only one to react to Asuma's unexpected arrival. "Shit!" Having witnessed the near instant take-down of his comrade, the other enemy shinobi leapt back and away from Naruto, repositioning himself to account for the new threat. Pausing for only an instant to take in the situation, it took the man no time at all to decide to retreat. Three against one was bad odds, not to even mention the arrival of a Leaf jounin.

Unfortunately for him, that instant was all that was necessary to seal his fate. Moving faster than Naruto or Hinata had ever seen him move, Asuma charged at the bandanna-wearing shinobi, drawing a trench-knife as he did so. Caught off guard by the jounin's speed, the rogue ninja made a single, desperate slash with his blade, which Asuma caught almost casually with his knife. Strangely, as soon as the sword made contact with the trench knife it instantly fell apart, most of the blade falling to the ground as the knife cut right through it. Looking in shock at the now-useless stump of his blade, the man was unable to react as Asuma's follow up punch caught him right in the gut. The wind harshly knocked out of him, the enemy shinobi was rendered completely helpless, bent over and gasping for breath, before Asuma's fist came crashing into the back of his skull, slamming him into the ground and knocking him instantly unconscious.

And just like that, in an instant, the battle was over. For a moment, everything was quiet. In the ensuing silence, the sound of the wind blowing seemed inordinately loud. In their respective positions, Naruto and Hinata remained frozen in place. So rapid had been the sequence of events, the two genin were left overwhelmed and unable to react. Slowly but surely, however, one thought began to permeate both of their consciousness. _We...we survived._

"Naruto." Both genin jumped as Asuma's voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Uh...Y-yes, Asuma-sensei?" Naruto stammered in reply, still struggling to regain his equilibrium.

Dropping his now spent cigarette, Asuma wasted no time in taking out another and lighting it up. He resumed speaking to Naruto in a calm voice, "Why didn't you create any shadow-clones?"

Blinking in surprise, Naruto responded, "I, uh...I didn't…"

"You didn't think to," Asuma finished for him. Turning to face Naruto, he continued, his voice hard, "You're not thinking enough! If you had created shadow clones you could have outflanked your enemy, and potentially even supported Hinata as well. It's not enough to just react on instinct. What are the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your opponent? How can you create an advantage for yourself? You have to think about these things, and create a plan. A shinobi has to be able to think and act at the same time. If you don't, you'll just end up getting caught up in your opponent's pace, and he'll have full control of the battle. I know that you're capable of this. Don't forget it."

"Hinata…" Said girl winced as Asuma-sensei's stern gaze now settled on her. "You're thinking too much! There's no such thing as a perfect engagement. If you're always waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, it'll never come. Every action comes with risk, but trying not to risk anything concedes the battle before it's even begun. You have to choose what risks to take. If you can't, it's not just you, your teammates will be placed in danger. If you risk nothing, you'll lose everything. Next time you fight, know what it is you have to do...and decide what you're prepared to sacrifice to make it happen."

Looking down at the unconscious shinobi at his feet, Asuma resumed speaking, his voice now sounding regretful, "I'd hoped we'd have more time. I thought there would be time enough for you all to learn these lessons later." His voice now growing serious again, he continued, "But time's up. I can't afford to be easy on you kids anymore."

Asuma's eyes raised up once again, his gaze boring into the two genin. "Listen to me, both of you...as of this moment, this is now a combat operation! I'm not 100% certain what's going on, but I'm pretty sure this is only the beginning. There's almost definitely going to be more fighting, and more deaths before we make it home. Any decision you make can have the possibility of death for you, or for one of the people we're here to protect. So discard any lingering doubt. Work fast, and follow my instructions exactly. There are hard times ahead, but if we work as a unit we _will_ get through this. Understood?"

Finally snapped out of their daze, Naruto and Hinata jumped to attention. "Yes, sir!"

"Good. Now get back to caravan, and get them to increase their pace. Try to keep them calm, but we need to get them moving faster."

"Uh...what are you gonna do, Asuma-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"I'll be along shortly," Asuma replied. Nudging the unconscious man lightly with his foot, he continued, "First I need to find out what all this is about."

About to begin moving down the road in the direction from which they had come, Hinata paused briefly, and turned back to Asuma. "Um, Asuma-sensei...they knew about us. They asked about the caravan, and somehow they knew that we were here to guard it. I think one of them said they expected us…"

Asuma paused on hearing that, then he nodded, "I see. That's good information, Hinata. Thanks for letting me know."

As Naruto and Hinata took their first steps in the direction of the caravan, Asuma called out to them one last time, "Oh, before I forget, Naruto…" Said student turned back to face his sensei again, and found himself now looking into his teacher's cold glare. "I'm pretty sure Hinata is only here because she followed you. So I'll say this only once. If you disobey me on this mission one more time...I'll make damn sure you never leave the village again. Is that clear?"

Swallowing hard, Naruto replied, "Y...yes Asuma-sensei."

"Good. Now get going."

* * *

The woman known to the caravaners as Shun was having an exceptionally bad day. Not that she had honestly expected anything good to come from today, but the sheer speed with which things had gone from bad to worse was a surprise, even for her pessimistic mind.

At first, the arrival of the shinobi from Konoha had been something of a relief, especially given the unexpected appearance of a Leaf jounin. From what she understood, they had only been able to hire very light protection for the caravan. At best they had been expecting two or three low-ranking ninjas to provide additional security against mountain bandits and the like. Amongst the shinobi villages, jounin were always considered the cream of the crop, the true elite, so such a one showing up instead was highly fortuitous, to say the least.

Unfortunately, of course, the jounin hadn't come alone, but had brought three obnoxious little brats along with him. Well, to be fair, two of the three weren't really obnoxious, just pitiful. But the third one...from practically the first moment he had appeared, the whiny, loud, impudent orange ninja had grated on her nerves. He was noisy, stupid, and didn't show proper respect to anyone. Shun had been unable to resist launching a few well-placed barbs his way during the trip, which of course had only antagonized him and inspired him to make himself even more of a nuisance to her. Shun wasn't entirely sure why she felt the need to put the boy down. It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that she had been just like him at that age, many years before, but that was neither here nor there.

Things had begun to get worse as soon as the jounin disappeared. The younger shinobi wouldn't give any specifics about why he had left or where he had gone, only insisting that he was "out scouting", but she didn't need to be a shinobi to recognize a half-truth when she heard one. Worse, without their commander around to keep him in check, the orange ninja (Shun hadn't bothered learning his name) had immediately lost all focus and begun to goof off, even leaving his post pushing the cart when she had ordered him to do his job, like a true good-for-nothing.

As soon as the two leaf shinobi had moved away from them and joined their other companion at the lead cart, Kikunojou and Yurinojou (whom the caravaners knew as Kikusuke and Yurinoshin) had immediately moved together to hold a hushed, urgent conversation. By this time they had spotted the smoke in the distance, and were worriedly speculating about what it might mean. For her part, Shun had no need for such speculation. She already knew, without a shadow of a doubt, what had happened.

The Land of Greens had fallen.

Before she had left, her father had promised her that he would buy her time. Though the defences of Greens Country were tiny, he was certain that they would be able to hold off their enemies for a least a few days, hopefully giving her and her bodyguards enough time to escape the country, and get beyond the Janin's reach. Instead, they hadn't even managed to last one whole day, meaning that their enemies were likely already in pursuit. _Just one more broken promise, Father,_ she thought, _but what else is new?_

At one point, Kikunojou had floated the possibility of one of the two of them going back to scout out the situation, which she had honestly considered. Not that she needed them to tell her what was happening, but if they were already being pursued, one of them might be able to slow the enemy down for a while. Of course, if they were, in fact, already being pursued, then there was very little chance of either of the men coming back from such a mission, which meant she had to consider very carefully whom to send. On the one hand, Kikunojou was easily the more skilled of the two, so would likely be able to buy them more time if he went. Conversely, this would leave her with the lesser skilled Yurinojou as her only remaining bodyguard going forward, so it may be better to send him instead, and keep Kikunojou with her. It was a question of short-term versus long-term gains.

There had been a time, many years ago, when she would have been genuinely horrified at such a line of thought, and disgusted with herself for thinking it. Kikunojou and Yurinojou had been with her practically since birth after all, and were the closest things to brothers she had ever had. But that version of herself had disappeared a long time ago. The world, she now understood, was dominated by those that looked after their own interests first and foremost, and used others as necessary. So why not her? So long as she still did her duty as her father's daughter, no one else would have room to complain.

Of course, it had all ended up being a moot point, as mere seconds later the little orange shinobi pulled off the shocking feat of apparently duplicating himself. When Shun had gone forward to find out what was going on the boy had promptly blown her off and then taken off down the road, abandoning the caravan he was supposed to be escorting and forcing one of his cohorts to run after him, leaving them with only a single leaf shinobi remaining and a bunch of copies. As if this wasn't bad enough, the boy's copies had the added drawback of making it that much more difficult for either of her bodyguards to slip away unseen, as the caravan was now surrounded by orange-clad clones, one of whom had taken it upon itself to harass her in the original's place.

It had taken her several minutes to deal with the errant clone (for some reason Yurinojou and Kikunojou hadn't intervened). Unfortunately for her, no sooner had the clone dispelled in a cloud of smoke, than the original himself had actually returned.

When the two young shinobi came back it quickly became obvious to everyone, even the otherwise oblivious caravaners, that something was wrong. The two both looked considerably worse for wear. Neither was visibly injured, but both were dirty and disheveled, and the boy was now missing his grey mover's jacket. What's more they both had a slightly wild, fearful look in their eyes, the sort of look that told her they had just been through more than just a chewing out by their commander.

As soon as they arrived the two went immediately to their overweight counterpart and began speaking with him in hushed tones. The boy looked clearly alarmed at whatever they had to tell him. After a moment, the orange genin turned and loudly addressed the entire caravan, "Listen up, everyone! Asuma-sensei wants the caravan to increase its pace, so we'll be going at least twice the speed we've been going so far today."

"Hey, what's going on here!?" Shun pushed her way to the front of the caravan. She needed to get as much information on the current situation as she could. Since they had been stuck staying close to the caravan they were currently running blind. "What happened while you were away? Why are we increasing pace?"

At this the furtive girl ninja responded, nervously pressing her index fingers together even more rapidly than before, "A-Asuma-sensei will explain everything when he gets back. For now w-we just need to move…"

"Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan…" Ms. Miyako, the old woman who lead the caravan, approached the two. "We generally don't move any faster than this. We have several children and elderly in the caravan as well, who may not be able to keep up a faster pace."

The dumb orange ninja seemed to think about this for a moment, when the third genin, the fat one, stepped forward and spoke up. "In that case, why don't you all just do what Momiji-chan has been doing?" he said, pointing to where said young girl was sitting on top of the nearest cart.

Snapping his fingers, the orange genin agreed, "Yeah, that'll work. Get the very old and the very young up on the carts. We'll push them along."

"No." Shun decided to put her foot down, and force some information out of the young shinobi. "Why would we agree to that? Why should the other movers have to push extra weight, especially when you won't even tell us what's going on? You need to let us know what's happening, or we're not going along with your plan."

Eyes narrowing, the young shinobi's expression hardened. "You don't get it," he said, his hands beginning to move through a series of hand-seals. "We're not _asking_ you."

Behind her, Yurinojou and Kikunojou tensed and moved closer to her. As it happened though, the boy was just making more copies of himself. "Shadow-clone jutsu!" As they watched, a dozen new clones of the boy appeared, distinguishable from the last set, that still surrounded the caravan, by their lack of grey jacket. In the back of her mind, Shun idly wondered just how many replicas the boy could create.

Before anything more could be said, the clones spread throughout the caravan, picking up the young children and assisting them and the elderly up onto the carts. Forcing the other movers aside, the clones took over pushing and pulling the carts entirely. Pausing only a moment to make sure everyone was secure, the shinobi took off down the road with the carts, the young children on top of the carts squealing with delight at the increased speed, forcing the other members of the caravan to jog along in order to keep up.

Like this, the caravan moved along quite quickly for what felt like hours to Shun, but was probably more like fifteen minutes. After a while the mousy kunoichi moved over to her counterparts and muttered something to them, causing them to call a halt immediately. As the caravan came to stop, Shun did her best to recover her breath and wipe the sweat from her brow. She wasn't actually sick like her cover-story claimed, but nevertheless her lifestyle hadn't prepared her to do much strenuous physical activity, especially over these last few years.

An instant later the genin's commander jounin finally returned, his large frame suddenly appearing next to the caravan in typical shinobi fashion. When he arrived the elite shinobi went directly to his subordinates and began speaking with them and Ms. Miyako, who was currently seated next to her granddaughter atop one of the carts. Recovering her composure as best she could, Shun decided to try getting something from the lead shinobi.

"Excuse me," she said, approaching the man from behind. She showed a touch more respect to him than she did to his subordinates, but nevertheless did her best to convey authority with her tone. "Your subordinates have been forcing all of us to run for the last several minutes, without telling us why. In fact, they haven't told us anything at all."

Not turning around, the man responded, "I know. I ordered them to do it."

Slightly incensed by the man's lack of regard, Shun pushed on. "Then don't you think you should tell us what's going on? I think we should be given an explanation. If it's something that affects us, we deserve to be told!"

Spinning around suddenly, the man turned to face Shun. In spite of herself, Shun flinched when the man's gaze settled on her. His eyes were cold and hard as ice.

"I agree," the tall jounin replied sharply, dropping his cigarette to the ground and grinding it into the dirt. "I agree completely. I'd very much like to know exactly what is going on here myself. So why don't _you_ go ahead and start at the beginning...your highness?"

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 _A/N:_

 _Thanks as always for reading. Please leave a review, even just a few words are highly appreciated._

 _Soooooo...yeah. I know it's been a while since I last posted a chapter. I apologize for the wait. Long story short, for reasons both good and bad, December and January were both extremely hectic months for me. I was only really able to put serious time into this chapter in February. This is only a hobby for me, and the only time I'm really able to write is late in the evenings after I get home from work (I work pretty late). Unfortunately I can't make any promises about update schedules, but I will try to get the next chapter out quicker._

 _Anyway, this chapter is the longest one yet, which I hope will slightly make up for that, and also contains the first real fight scene. Let me know what you thought of that, by the way. As I suspected, I lack the ability to give really in-depth descriptions of combat (R.A. Salvatore, I am not), so I tried to keep things simple while also giving a good idea of what was going on. Let me know how well I succeeded or failed._

 _In any case, there are some more chapter notes below, this chapter. I think I have decided to stop putting the note markers in the story text itself, but I will still be putting the notes below the chapter any time there's something I want to clarify._

 _(1.) So I'll start with the question some of you are probably wondering: If her byakugan was active, why didn't Hinata spot the incoming shinobi? To explain this, I'll first have to give a brief explanation of how I think the byakugan works (or at least how it works for the sake of my story)._

 _In my view, the byakugan's power can essentially be broken down into three interrelated parts: range, field of vision, and piercing power. The range, obviously, is how far away the byakugan's vision can reach, or how far the user can clearly perceive things. Field of vision, of course, refers to the byakugan's ability to see in all directions at once (except the blind spot). Finally piercing power is the byakugan's ability to see through solid objects, and to observe things like chakra and the chakra network. As I said, these are all interrelated, but in order to maximize their vision in one of these areas, there is a tradeoff made in the other areas. For example, if a Hyuuga was surrounded by enemies, they may focus their eyes on expanding their field of vision, so they could clearly see enemies in all directions, including to the sides and behind them. However, in this state their range would be more limited, perhaps to only a few hundred meters (or in Hinata's case, about fifty meters). Conversely, they could also push their vision to the limits of their range, enabling them to clearly see things several miles away. However, in order to do this, they would have to "focus" their vision in a particular direction, meaning that their vision in other directions would suffer (like how our own eyes can focus on things either close or far away)._

 _Essentially what happened is this: during the enemy shinobi's approach, Hinata was pushing her vision to the limits of her range, while looking for a tall tree to use for Naruto's plan. Hinata's range is not very far, perhaps a kilometer when she focuses on distance, and far less when not doing so. The shinobi were able to cover the distance between them while her sight was focused in other directions. As a result, they were able to get fairly close, and Hinata didn't spot them until she had finished her sweep of the area and allowed her vision to "relax" into a more natural state. When she stopped focusing on distance she was able to see all around her more clearly again, and then spotted the approaching enemies just in time._

 _(2.) So this was Naruto and Hinata's first real fight in this story, and there are a couple of things I'd like to address regarding it. First, as some of you probably know, this fight also took place in the anime. In that, Naruto was able to take on both of these shinobi and defeat them single-handed without too much difficulty. But that was after the Chunin Exams, and several other adventures. This is meant to display the difference in Naruto's strength and ability between that point of the story, and this his first real mission. Also, you may have noticed that, unlike in canon, Naruto didn't freeze up in his first fight this time. This largely has to do with Hinata tackling him, and then galvanizing him to action. Once Naruto just started moving, his training took over and he was able to act without needing to force himself to move._

* * *

 _So yeah, the action is really starting to pick up now. There are going to be plenty of fights going forward, which is going to be a challenge to write, but I'll do my best to muscle through it. I hope you guys will stick with me._

 _Regards,_

 _MD_


	6. The Princess and the Piranha

**Ch.6: The Princess and the Piranha**

* * *

"...I'd very much like to know exactly what is going on here myself. So why don't _you_ go ahead and start at the beginning...your highness?"

The woman known as Shun took a step back in shock, completely caught off guard by the elder shinobi's challenge.

 _Im...Impossible!...How?_

Reacting immediately, Yurinojou and Kikunojou stepped forward and carefully interposed themselves between her and the irate ninja. "What are you talking about, Asuma-san?" Kikunojou responded, quickly. Their chances of keeping their cover were now essentially blown, but they may as well try until they knew for sure what was going on. "What's happened, exactly?"

In spite of themselves, Kikunojou and Yurinojou winced slightly when the tall man's powerful gaze switched over to them. Crossing his arms over his broad chest, Asuma replied, his foul mood plain in his tone, "Just a little while ago, two of my students were attacked by a pair of foreign shinobi. They gave no reason for their attack, but they made it quite plain that they were pursuing this caravan."

On hearing this, the caravaners began muttering nervously among themselves. Meanwhile, the three disguised newcomers from Greens Country couldn't help glancing at one another anxiously, their worst fears being realized.

Asuma continued, "Fortunately, I was able to deal with both of them. I successfully captured one of them, and when I interrogated him, he told me something _very_ interesting…" Stepping forward, Asuma forced the two men to take a step back. His gaze boring into Shun, he went on, "Apparently, they were sent to track down the daughter of the Land of Green's feudal lord, who was travelling in disguise in this very caravan."

This statement elicited even more expressions of surprise from the caravaners, and from the genin as well. Naruto spoke up, sounding confused, "Wait...the daughter of a feudal lord? Wouldn't that be like...a princess?"

Chouji groaned, "Dang it, Naruto...you jinxed us."

"And you're saying this has something to do with us?" Shun, doing her best to regain control of the situation, replied to Asuma. "Asuma-san, you can't possibly think that…"

"Do I look like an idiot to you?" Asuma cut her off sharply. "Don't try to bullshit me. I saw through your disguise almost as soon as we met. Are you going to try to convince me it's a coincidence that these people are looking for a princess hidden in a merchant caravan, and you, a woman disguised as a man, just happen to be travelling in this very caravan with your two bodyguards?"

Asuma ignored Naruto's startled yelp of, "Shun is a _what_ _now_!?" and continued pressing forward, deliberately letting some of his chakra leak out to increase the weight of the pressure he was putting on the three before him.

"Now I'll give you one last chance to come clean with me," he said, "or else I and my students are leaving the three of you right here."

This statement caused alarm and panic to spread across the faces of the three from Greens Country. "You can't!" Shun burst out, now clearly afraid.

Falling to one knee before Asuma, Kikusuke responded, "Asuma-san, wait, please...it's as you say…"

" _Kikusuke…!_ " Shun hissed at the man.

"I'm sorry, my lady. We have to be honest with them. We've deceived these people long enough." Turning back to Asuma, Kikusuke continued, "As you've surmised, Asuma-san, the three of us are not mere merchants. Our real names aren't Kikusuke and Yurinoshin, either. It's actually Kikunojou and Yurinojou, we're shinobi in service of the royal family of Greens Country. And this…" he went on, gesturing to Shun, "...is Lady Haruna, only daughter of the Lord of the Land of Greens."

This, of course, caused the most surprised reaction from the rest of the caravan yet.

"So wait...Shun is _actually_ a princess!?" Naruto said, "Like, for real?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Chouji muttered.

Stepping forward from the crowd, Ms. Miyako spoke up in wonder, "My word! Are you really Princess Haruna?" she asked, "Look at you, you're all grown up! You may not remember, but you and I actually met once, many years ago, when you were a child. I remember you came to visit the caravan one day with your lord father…" Turning to address her two male guardians, she continued, "And would that make the two of you the two little ninja boys who were always tagging along in her wake? Goodness, you've all gotten so big!"

"I think I remember that, actually," Yurinojou replied. "It was around the time when Tsunade-hime visited the country..."

Kikunojou nodded in agreement. "Those were better times."

" _And_ …" Asuma interjected, trying to get the conversation back on track, "What exactly is the princess of a nation doing in a caravan of merchants?"

"The plan to join the caravan was formulated a few days ago," Kikunojou replied, "when we received intel of a coup d'etat."

"A...A coup d'etat?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Kikunojou nodded, "It started a few days ago...when we realized that the growing bandit problem in the eastern foothills was actually an army of rogue shinobi assembling within our own borders."

"By the time we realized what was happening, more than half the officials of the Land of Greens had already been bought off," Yurinojou said, picking up the story from Kikunojou.

"Bought off?" Asuma asked, "So the source of the coup wasn't from within the country itself?"

Kikunojou shook his head. "No. The ringleaders of the coup are a trio of criminal-nins called the Janin. We're not exactly sure where they came from. Some rumors stated that they were from a distant land across the great Eastern Ocean...regardless, they're vicious, and cold-blooded killers. They turned dozens of officials to their side under our very noses, and discreetly assassinated any who tried to resist. They were so efficient, we didn't even realize what was happening until it was almost too late."

"When our master, the feudal lord, realized the threat, he made arrangements for Haruna-sama to leave the country," Yurinojou said. "Fortunately, this caravan was set to leave very soon, and his lordship had already hired protection from Konoha to protect them from what he assumed were bandits. It was a fairly simple matter to arrange for us to join the caravan for short while in exchange for working as movers."

"I see," Asuma replied. "So what you're saying is that the feudal lord decided to use these people as cover for his daughter's escape."

Sweating slightly, Kikunojou quickly responded, "Asuma-san, please believe me, it was never his Majesty's intention to place these people in danger, or to cause trouble for you, either. He would never have done so if there were any other option. He planned to hold out against the enemy for as long as possible, and keep the Janin's attention focused on him, hopefully long enough for the three of us to escape the country."

"And yet, you're being pursued already," Asuma replied. "How did they manage to pick up your trail so quickly?"

Kikunojou shook his head. "I'm not sure. Our own forces were outnumbered, but even so, they had the defender's advantage, and they were forewarned. The enemy shouldn't have had enough men to spare pursuing random caravans."

"Don't be a fool, Kikunojou," Haruna spoke up sharply, rejoining the conversation. "You know perfectly well why this is happening. It's because my father is weak." Turning to face Asuma, she went on, bitterness creeping into her voice, "The Land of Greens is a powerless land, full of soft-hearted people who take peace for granted. There's no way anyone there would be able to stand up against the Janin, especially not my father. The fact that they're onto us means he's probably already dead and the battle is over. They most likely started looking for me as soon as they cleared out the castle and realized I wasn't there."

Asuma arched an eyebrow at the woman's response. The cold way in which she announced her own father's death, and the lack of any apparent remorse was a bit disturbing, even to him. Yurinojou and Kikunojou looked chagrined, but didn't say anything in response.

 _Definitely a story there,_ he thought, _but that's not really my concern right now._

Taking out a cigarette, Asuma lit up and began to smoke as his mind worked through the current situation. Obviously, the present scenario was well beyond the confines of his team's original mission. His first instinct was to take his genin and get the hell out of dodge. During his career, he had seen more than once what happened to shinobi when the clients weren't honest about the mission parameters, and the results were almost always tragic. The last thing he wanted was for he and his team to become yet another sad tale told as a warning amongst their fellow shinobi. At the same time, he knew he couldn't simply abandon the rest of the caravan. Ms. Miyako and her party weren't in any way at fault for the present circumstance, and it wouldn't be at all right to up and desert them. Of course, there was always the option to force the three from Greens Country out of the caravan, and let them deal with their own problems, and there was certainly a strong temptation for Asuma to do just that. The three had taken what was supposed to be a simple, straightforward C-rank mission, and turned it into his worst nightmare. No matter how sympathetic their story was, he knew that as far as the codes of the shinobi were concerned, he would be fully justified in leaving them to their fate.

He sighed, internally. All that said, there was something stopping him from simply washing his hands of the three of them. The whole reason he and his team were there in the first place was because of the feudal lord of the Land of Greens. The man had done a kindness for someone Asuma's own father regarded as a daughter. He had helped Tsunade with her no doubt steep gambling debt, and never asked for anything in return. Based on what he knew of the man from what the Hokage had told him, Asuma believed Kikunojou was telling the truth when he said the feudal lord didn't intend to use the caravaners, or themselves, as shields. These weren't the actions of a cold-hearted manipulator, they were the actions of a desperate man with no other options. Conversely, the actions of their subordinates told him everything he needed to know about these 'Janin'. He had encountered more than enough of their sort in his life, as well. If he left the princess and her escort here and returned to the Leaf Village without helping them, he knew he would technically be doing the right thing as a shinobi. Regardless, he also knew that his father would be extremely disappointed to have not been able to repay the Lord of the Land of Greens in any way. He may not blame Asuma for what he had done, but he would no doubt blame himself for failing to help the man when he really needed it, and add it to the ever-expanding pile of guilt the old man seemed to carry with him at all times, these days.

Taking his cigarette out of his mouth for a moment, he spoke, "Yes, well, regardless of what your intentions were, the fact remains that the three of you have put everyone in this caravan in extreme danger. Not only that, but you also lied about it in order to protect yourselves."

Haruna responded sharply, "So what? What are you expecting, an apology? I am the heir to the throne of the Land of Greens, which means my life is paramount! As future ruler of this land, I must be kept safe at all costs. We did what we had to do for my protection, it was worth the risk of a few merchants."

Before anyone else could say anything, Naruto burst out furiously, "The _hell_ do you think you're saying!? Acting like you're so much better than everyone else! What the hell do you think human life is worth?"

Completely unabashed, Haruna replied brazenly, "So long as I survive, the Land of Greens can be restored someday. My life is the future of Greens Country. By definition, that makes it worth more."

" _Why you…!_ " Naruto looked like he was about to throw himself at the arrogant princess.

"Naruto," Asuma spoke firmly, gesturing for Naruto to be still where he was. On the outside, Asuma remained calm and detached. Internally, though, he was in complete agreement with his student. _This idiot girl doesn't seem to realize she's not helping herself, here._

Turning back to the three before him, he spoke again to Haruna, his voice even but with an edge to his tone, "I would refrain from saying things like that if I were you, princess. Don't forget, you've also placed my students in danger. Two of them have almost died already. They're technically still in training, they're not ready for a mission like this." Stepping forward, he stared her down, "Keep this in mind: their lives mean more to me than yours ever could. And you're not exactly making a good case for why we should help you right now."

Drawing herself up haughtily, she replied, "A good case? Isn't it your _job_ to protect me?"

Asuma snorted in derisive amusement. He had to stop himself from laughing in the girl's face. Turning to her two shinobi companions, he asked in an amused tone, "She doesn't really get how this works, does she?"

"Haruna-sama…" Kikunojou spoke up, "...that applies to Yurinojou and myself, but these people were hired to protect _the caravan_ , not you yourself. Their protection only extends to you so long as you are considered a part of it as well, and that protection is void if you become a liability to the safety of the entire rest of the caravan."

Haruna was now beginning to look nervous. As if to press the point home, Yurinojou also spoke, "What's more, our presence in this caravan could also be considered a breach of contract. Asuma-san and his team would technically be justified in calling the mission off altogether and returning home."

Asuma took a small bit of satisfaction in seeing the arrogant princess deflate entirely. "Exactly," he said. "That's how it is."

"So that's it then?" Haruna, now seeming like a trapped animal, asked. "You're just going to run away and abandon me here?"

"We don't run away!" Naruto snapped.

"Indeed," Asuma stated, more calmly. His mind was now made up, and he had settled on a course of action. It would be risky, but if they all played their parts, and executed correctly, it was their best chance of getting everyone out alive. "Listen closely, and understand this: I refuse to risk even a single member of this caravan for your sake. My first priority is to get them out of the line of fire. Now...if you want our help, you will do _exactly_ as I say. _This_ is how this is gonna go…"

* * *

Stepping out into the forest, Asuma moved a small ways away from the caravan, far enough such that he got a small amount of privacy, but not far enough that the caravan itself was out of sight. Behind him, the caravaners prepared themselves once again to move. Haruna had been lifted up onto one of the carts by Yurinojou. She sat apart from the other members of the caravan who were riding the carts, not that any of them were particularly eager to sit near to her, either.

The petulant princess had been none too thrilled when she heard Asuma's plan. Regardless, under pressure from even her two bodyguards, she had relented, and promised to follow Asuma's instructions in exchange for their continued protection.

Standing in a small space between trees, Asuma took a deep breath and began executing the first part of his plan. Pricking his finger on one of his trench knives to draw blood, Asuma formed a series of hand seals before slamming his right palm into the earth. " _Summoning-Jutsu_!" A tangle of seal marks spread out onto the ground beneath his hand, before disappearing behind a cloud of smoke that burst forth. When the smoke cloud dispersed, there, standing on the ground before Asuma, was a small, white-furred rhesus monkey.

One only had to look at the creature for a moment to realize that this was no ordinary beast. Aside from its conspicuous coloring, a reddish face standing in stark contrast to its snow-white fur, its eyes also gleamed with a clear intelligence. Perhaps the most noticeable aspect of the animal, though, was the bright-red sash it wore from shoulder to hip. This sash held up a cylindrical message-container, slung across his back.

The little monkey looked around quizzically for a moment, before spotting Asuma. "Oh!? It's Asuma-kun!" the creature spoke in a high-pitched voice. "Well, well. It's been a while since you summoned one of us. How have you been?"

"I've been better, Kozaru-san," Asuma replied. "Listen, I…"

"Oh? That's too bad," the fast-talking summon animal started speaking again before Asuma could go on. "You and your father haven't been fighting again, have you?"

"No, we're fine, but look…"

The white-furred macaque blathered on obliviously, "Well, that's good to hear. You know, most of us think the reason you never summon us is because of this thing with your family…"

"...Kozaru-san, that's not really…"

"...If you ask me, what you and your father really need to do is just sit down and hash things out with each othe…"

" _Kozaru-san!_ " having run out of patience, Asuma interjected sharply, finally getting a word in edgewise. "I'm sorry, but I don't have time for this. My team is in a critical situation. Our status is AE-04."

Recognizing the Konoha code, Kozaru sobered immediately. "Ah, I see," he replied, now all business. "What do you need from me?"

Taking out a folded piece of paper, Asuma opened the message container on Kozaru's back and placed the paper inside. "I need you to take this message to my father." The message was only a few sentences Asuma had hastily scrawled down, but he was certain his father would understand the urgency of his situation. "Tell him to send whatever he can," he said, sealing the cylinder shut.

"Will do," Kozaru replied. "What's our current location?"

"We're in a country called the Land of Greens. If you travel due east from here, you should arrive back in Fire Country," Asuma explained. "Once you cross the border into the Land of Fire, you'll be able to find your way back to Konoha, right?"

"Of course! Who do you think you're talking to?" the white monkey said, puffing out his little chest proudly. "I'm King Enma's most trusted messenger!"

Asuma nodded. "I know. I'm counting on you. And Kozaru-san…" he said, catching the little monkey just as he was about to take off, "...I'll make sure to have something good for you to eat the next time I summon you."

Waving his promises off, Kozaru responded, "Don't worry about that. Just promise me you'll sit down and have a nice, long talk with your father, like I said."

Asuma sighed. "At this point, I doubt I could avoid doing that even if I tried, Kozaru-san."

Kozaru nodded. "Well, good. I'm off, then." Turning away from Asuma, the monkey leapt away and into the trees, speeding away and swiftly disappearing from sight.

Asuma rolled his eyes. _Nosy monkeys,_ he grumbled to himself. _Forget my father, the reason I never summon them is because they're always butting into my business._

He complained, but he also trusted that Kozaru would get the job done, better than anyone else could, at that. Kozaru wasn't very strong, but he was incredibly fast. He could move at speeds impressive even to a jounin, and could deliver messages to any location faster than even a messenger-hawk could. If he moved at top speed, Asuma was certain that Kozaru would arrive at the Leaf Village overnight.

Asuma sighed. From there, of course, it was anyone's guess how long it would take reinforcements to arrive. Assuming that the Third Hokage even had anyone available to send, there was no telling how quickly they would be able to prepare, move out, and travel all the way to his location. It was a long shot that it would even be helpful, ultimately, but it was one he had to take, regardless. Anyway, in the end, he wouldn't be relying on getting help from the Leaf. Hopefully their group would be over the border before their pursuit got too large to handle, but it could prove vital, if their enemies were bold enough to continue pursuing them into another country.

As he turned back toward the caravan, Asuma saw his three student's approaching him.

"Sensei," Chouji was the first to speak, "the caravan is almost ready to move again. They just want to make sure everything is tied down extra securely to deal with our faster pace."

Nodding, Asuma looked back at the caravan. The caravaners moved back and forth, checking over everything on the carts, and also making sure the very old and very young members of the group were secure in their seats atop them. Naruto clones moved among them, helping in whatever ways they could. It appeared that Naruto's copies had entirely taken over the job of pushing and pulling the carts themselves. Which reminded Asuma of something he needed to talk about with the boy.

"Naruto," he spoke to his blonde student, "I understand you left some shadow clones behind to protect the caravan when you separated from it, earlier."

"Yes, sensei…" Naruto nodded, uncomfortably, not eager to remind his sensei of his recent insubordination.

Asuma nodded. "That was good thinking, at least. It doesn't excuse you abandoning your post," he said quickly, wanting to make sure his student didn't start to think his actions were justified, "but still, that's a good way of making use of them. Out of curiosity, how much longer can these ones last before they run out of chakra and disperse?"

Turning and looking back at his clones, Naruto seemed to think for a moment. "I'm not exactly sure," he said, "When I'm not fighting they can actually stay out for a pretty long time. The ones I made during our Genin test lasted for almost eight hours, and we were running pretty hard the whole time. I'd say a few more hours at least on all of them."

"Good, good," Asuma replied, "In that case, I want you to reassign any of them that aren't helping push the carts. Have them spread out behind us and shadow the caravan from about a mile out."

Naruto thought about this for a moment before coming to a conclusion, "Oh, I get it. You want them to slow down any enemy pursuit, right?"

Shaking his head, Asuma responded, "No, not at all. In fact, if any of them spot the enemy, I want you to order them to dispel immediately."

Naruto's face screwed up in confusion, "But...how would that help us?"

"Because, we want to have as early a warning as possible of when the enemy is approaching," he replied. "Hinata can see incoming threats from all directions, but her range is more limited for the time being. I want to supplement that by scattering shadow clones in the direction the enemy is most likely to approach us from."

"But, I still don't get it," Naruto replied. "If the clones dispel themselves, how are they going to get the message to us that the enemy is coming?"

Pausing, Asuma looked at his orange-clad student for a moment, "You mean...you haven't noticed yet?"

"Noticed what?" Naruto asked, seeming to become a bit exasperated.

Asuma pondered this for a moment. _Hm, now that I think about it, that probably makes sense, actually. Up until now, he's mostly just used shadow clones for combat, and always kept them pretty close to himself. The memories were so similar to his own, he probably didn't even notice them._

Coming to a decision, Asuma spoke to the blond boy again, "Alright Naruto, do me a favor and go ahead and create a single shadow clone."

"Uh, okay," Naruto shrugged and complied, a single clone popping into existence next to him in a cloud of smoke.

"Good, now then…" Asuma began running through a series of hand seals, " _Shadow-clone jutsu_!" With a slightly larger poof of smoke, a copy of Asuma appeared beside him.

"Eh? You can use the shadow-clone jutsu too, Asuma-sensei!?" Naruto said in surprise.

Asuma shrugged, "Of course I can, I'm a jounin. Shinobi of my level have access to jutsus like this."

Suddenly the Asuma clone spoke up as well, "Now, the clones are going to go over there behind that tree," he said, pointing to a large tree several meters away from where the group was standing.

Meeting the gaze of his original, the Naruto clone shrugged and followed the Asuma clone away from the group, disappearing with him behind the selected tree.

Naruto still seemed at a loss. "I don't get it, sensei. What are they gonna do over there?"

"You'll see," Asuma said blithely.

"How am I supposed to see when they're hidden behind the…" Naruto stopped short, appearing shocked for a moment, before his face suddenly screwed up in a rictus of anger. " _Hey_!" he said, furiously, "What was _that_ for!?"

"What do you mean?" Asuma asked innocently.

"What do I mean!? Out of nowhere, you just flipped me off and then kicked me in the dick!"

To the side, Chouji snorted, while Hinata put her head down, hiding her eyes behind her bangs, embarrassed at Naruto's words. For his part, Asuma continued to stand there looking innocent. "I don't know what you're talking about. We were just standing here talking."

Pointing angrily at the tree, Naruto responded, "Yeah, but your clone…" Suddenly Naruto's eyes lit up in realization. "Oh!"

Chouji spoke up, curiously, "Huh, so wait...does this mean Naruto sees whatever his clones see?"

"More like Naruto remembers whatever his clones remember," Asuma replied, beginning to lecture. "Whenever a shadow clone is dispelled, its memories and a portion of its chakra return to the original. Basically, whatever the clone has seen or experienced, you will remember as though it happened to you."

"Huh," Naruto thought aloud, "You know, now that you mention it...one of the clones I left with the caravan did get dispelled earlier, and even though I wasn't there, I can remember everything it did," he said, smiling slightly at the memories of his clone self tormenting Shun. Or rather, Haruna. Whatever.

Chouji arched an eyebrow, "You've been using shadow clones all this time, and you're only just noticing this now?"

"That's probably because of how he's been using them," Asuma replied. "As it happens, Naruto's use of shadow clones for combat is actually fairly unique. The vast majority of shinobi who use them, utilize them for scouting purposes only. Obviously, because you get their memories back, shadow clones allow a single ninja to reconnoiter multiple places at once, making them a highly useful reconnaissance tool. As to why they're not generally used for combat, the reason is twofold. For one, their damage tolerance is not very high. As you guys know, generally all it takes is one good hit in order to destroy them. Shadow clones represent a sizable investment in terms of chakra, which makes the second point all the more important. Whether a clone is destroyed, or dispels on its own, you still get its memories and a portion of its chakra back. However, when it is destroyed by an outside force, the amount of chakra that you get back is greatly reduced, relative to the amount that is returned when the shadow clone actively dispels of its own accord. That's the reason why most shinobi can't afford to use shadow clones in combat. The few that do either have massive chakra capacities, like Naruto, or are very highly skilled." As it happened, Asuma's father was one such individual. Or at least, had been, at one time.

"Anyway, like I was saying," Asuma continued, "when Naruto uses shadow clones, he tends to keep them very close by, for fighting or whatever else he happens to be doing. Generally, Naruto's clones are always doing the same activity as Naruto himself. As a result, I suspect that when the memories came back, they just sort of blended with Naruto's own natural memories, and he just never had reason to notice them."

Naruto thought about what Asuma-sensei had said. Now that he thought about it, before today he had never really sent a clone off to do its own thing. It had never occurred to him that the memories of the clone might come back to him if he did.

"Um, sensei…" Hinata spoke up for the first time, that conversation, "If all of that is the case, wouldn't it make more sense for Naruto to create more clones and send back as many as he can to scout, instead of just sending the ones he's already created?"

Asuma smiled at the girl's perception, "Good question, Hinata. Actually, that brings me to my next point, and this one is very important Naruto, so listen up." When he was sure the boy was paying close attention, he went on, "It's very important that you not overuse shadow clones in this way. In fact, for the time being, I forbid you from using shadow clones in training, without my explicit permission."

"Huh!?" Naruto asked, "Why?"

"Because, shadow clones have a second limitation, one that's not even a factor for most shinobi."

Hinata tilted her head to the side, in curiosity, "A second limitation?"

Nodding, Asuma replied, "Indeed. The primary limitation for shadow clones is, of course, their massive chakra cost. It's the reason that most shinobi who can use them do so only sparingly. However, for those few who are able to use them to a larger degree, there's a second limitation having to do with the shadow clones memory retention. As I said before, when a shadow clone dispels, all its accumulated memories return to the original. However, while this is one of the things that makes shadow clones so useful, it has a side effect on the shinobi's brain. You see, when all those memories come flooding back to the original, the brain has to immediately process all this new information. This causes considerable mental strain for the shinobi's mind," he said, tapping the side of his head for emphasis. "It's not a problem for most, because generally this jutsu is only used by older, more experienced shinobi creating one or two clones. You, on the other hand, Naruto, are still very young, your brain hasn't even finished developing yet, and yet you are able to create dozens of clones at a time. Which means this limitation is particularly relevant for you."

"But sensei," Naruto responded, still a little confused, "I've been using shadow clones a lot, ever since I learned the jutsu. I've never had any problems with it up to now."

"I'm sure you haven't," Asuma agreed. "Probably for the same reason you didn't notice the memories until I showed you. Up until now, you've always used shadow clones for very simple things, to support what you, yourself were doing. The memories from the clones were nearly identical to your own, and didn't contain any particularly useful information. This massively cut down on the mental exertion required for your brain to process these memories. So much so that they basically blended with your own natural memories." Gesturing toward the clones over by the caravan, he continued, "The clones you've created today, on the other hand, have spent large stretches of time apart from you, and some of them were deliberately trying to gather new information. I suspect when they start to dispel, you'll begin to notice the side-effects of incorporating all those new memories. That's why, if possible, I'd also like you to make sure your clones dispel at different times, and not all at once."

Chouji spoke now, looking concerned, "Is there a danger to Naruto if he tries to take in too many memories?"

Asuma nodded gravely, "Indeed, there is. There's a story in the Leaf Village about a shinobi who tried to use the shadow clone jutsu to speed up his training. He was strong, but he underestimated the danger of the mental feedback. He ended up putting himself into a short coma, and almost died, when he dispelled all of his shadow clones at once."

Actually, it may have been a bit of an exaggeration to say that this story was well known in Konoha. As it happened, the shinobi in question had been none other than a much younger Hiruzen Sarutobi, which was how Asuma knew the story, himself. Regardless, the example was still pertinent.

"That shinobi was older, and more experienced than you are now, Naruto. So I want you to be especially careful. If you're not, you could end up hurting, or even killing yourself."

Naruto paled, looking suitably cautioned.

"Speaking of which, that brings me to my last point. Chouji," he said, turning to the rotund boy, "Naruto and Hinata have already heard some of this, but I want you to hear it too. This mission has turned into a combat op, so you need to be prepared for what's to come. Two of the enemy have been killed already. Whoever follows after them won't be as careless as they were."

"Umm, sensei…" Hinata spoke up, hesitantly, "don't you mean one? That other shinobi was still alive when we left…"

Asuma paused a moment before responding. Opening his pocket, he took out a packet of cigarettes and began getting ready to light up. "He was still alive when the two of you left...but he wasn't when I did," he said, his voice even and devoid of emotion. "I couldn't afford to let him report back to his cohorts about us, so as soon as I was done interrogating him, I finished him off."

All three of his students paled at this. Naruto was looking around, seemingly unsure of exactly how to react. Hinata lowered her eyes, unable to make eye contact with anyone. Chouji looked decidedly ill.

Lighting up and taking a smoke, Asuma went on, "I didn't particularly want to kill him, but it was necessary. There wasn't enough time to hide the bodies, much less conceal the signs of battle, but even so, if I had left him alive he could have passed on information about us to whoever followed after: how many of us he saw, and more importantly, how strong we were. In situations like this, concealing such information from your opponents can be crucial. Now, whoever comes after us next will know that we were strong enough to take out those two grunts, but they won't know any more than that. They'll have to be more cautious than they would be if they knew what they were up against. Forcing the enemy to come at us blind could end up being the difference between life and death for one of us. That's why I made the choice to do it."

Looking around at all his uneasy students, Asuma continued, "And that's exactly my point. Listen carefully, all of you...the men who are chasing us...I've dealt with their kind before. They won't hesitate to kill anyone who gets between them and their objective. They won't hold back on you just cause you're kids, and of course, just as important," he said, gesturing over toward the caravan, "they won't hesitate to endanger civilians either, if they think it'll give them an advantage. That's why it's absolutely critical that we get the caravaners out the line of fire as soon as possible."

Glancing from left to right, Asuma met each of his student's gazes in turn, driving the point home, "The fact of the matter is...whether we like it or not, we've been dragged into a war here. People are going to die. Some have already died, and more are going to before this is all over. Now, I'm committed to making sure none of us are in that number, and none of the caravaners as well...but I can't guarantee that for sure." Taking another long drag of his cigarette he resumed, "You kids are still in training, and I was hoping there would be more time before you had to face something like this. If I had my way, I would send you three back to Konoha right now, to keep you safe…" Naruto, Hinata, and Chouji looked up in alarm at this statement, "...but...the truth is, I'm not sure I can do this by myself. That's why I need the three of you to be prepared for anything."

Letting out a sigh, Asuma finished, "Look, just promise me this: if the enemy forces you to choose between it being them or you... _choose them._ "

Slowly, the three genins nodded, replying soberly, "Yes, sensei."

Finishing off his latest cigarette, Asuma looked up to see Kikunojou approaching from the direction of the caravan. "Asuma-san," he said, "Everything's set. The caravan is ready to move."

"Good, we're on our way." Taking one last look at his subordinates, he inquired, "You three know what you need to do?"

Nodding, more firmly this time, they replied, "Yes sir!"

"Good, then get to your assigned positions. Let's move out."

* * *

The next few hours that passed were uneventful, yet nerve-wracking. The caravan moved along in uneasy silence. Where before the caravan was relaxed and congenial, now the atmosphere was tense and apprehensive. Though relieved of the work of having to move the carts, the caravaners themselves were clearly anxious. Even the children, sensing the atmosphere, were stilled, and clung closely to their mothers up on the carts.

Walking among them, Asuma watched their surroundings, the caravaners, and his genin as well. He was proud to note that his students did an admirable job of keeping their nerves from showing, keeping their voices even when speaking and projecting an air of calm when dealing with the nervous caravaners. Though of course, to an experienced jounin like Asuma, their fear was only too obvious. The way Naruto's eyes darted back and forth constantly, how Hinata kept her hands balled tightly into fists, to keep them from fidgeting, and how Chouji scarfed down several bags of chips, at an even faster rate than usual, all told Asuma how agitated his students really were. Though Asuma supposed there was no help for that. This was their first time experiencing the calm before the storm, there was nothing do but wait for it to break.

As they crested another small hill, Kikunojou came running up to him. "Asuma-san," he said, "that's it, just up ahead…"

Asuma stared off down the road ahead, and saw what he'd been waiting for. Less than a mile away, the road forked, splitting off in two directions. The main road continued almost straight east, while another, much smaller road broke off toward the south. This fork was their primary destination for the time being. The main road led out of the country, while the southern road led to a small village in the foothills. Nowhere important, but the perfect place for the caravaners to lay low and wait for things to blow over.

Asuma nodded, relieved, "Good, let's keep moving then. We're almost there."

It was at this moment that the original Naruto suddenly twitched violently. "Sensei…" he spoke up, worry creeping into his tone, "...one of my clones was just destroyed."

Asuma grit his teeth. _Shit! We were_ so _close!_

Letting none of his agitation seep into his voice he responded, "Did it encounter the enemy?"

Naruto shook his head, "I...I don't know. It happened so fast, the clone didn't even see what destroyed it...but it was definitely hit by something."

"Understood. Hinata…" getting his female student's attention, Asuma made a gesture, pointing at both of his eyes.

Understanding the unspoken order, Hinata began running through the hand seals for her doujutsu, activating it a second later, " _Byakugan!_ " She paused for only a moment, her eyes scanning the distance, before speaking quickly, "Sensei! One chakra signature, coming from seven o'clock! One kilometer out, and approaching fast!"

"Just one?" he queried.

Nodding firmly, she replied, "Yes, sir. There are no other chakra signatures within my range."

"Good." Preparing himself, Asuma took out one of his trench knives and readied himself to move. Turning to face his genin one more time, he gave a final command, "Keep the caravan moving. No matter what happens, get the civilians to safety."

With that, Asuma leapt away from the group, speedily moving into the forest. Jumping from tree branch to tree branch, he moved quickly in the direction Hinata had indicated.

He didn't have to go far. Within a matter of moments, he felt a wave of killing intent wash over him. _Hm, that's an impressive amount of bloodlust. They're also coming at us alone even though they must have seen what happened to the last two, as well. Whoever this is, they're most likely on another level from the ones I faced before._

A second later, Asuma detected the whistling sound of small objects flying through the air at him. Juking sharply to the side, he managed to dodge the brace of kunai that had been thrown at him. Taking out a kunai with his free hand, Asuma returned fire as his opponent came into view. The enemy easily swatted the kunai knife out of the air with a pair of spinning tonfa, then launched himself at Asuma. The two met in mid-air, tonfa clashing against trench knife in a flurry of blows. After a furious exchange, the two pushed away from one another, each landing on a separate tree branch and eying one another closely.

Asuma finally got a good look at his opponent. The man's attire was, for the most part, identical to the two grunts he had fought before, the one big difference being that the kilt-like wrapping at the man's waist was far longer, reaching all the way down to his calves. Unlike the men from before this one wore no face mask, leaving his sneering, contemptuous face in plain view. He had roughly shoulder length hair, and three teal-colored markings adorning his face, a tear-drop under each eye, and a triangular marking on his chin that made it look like he had a goatee.

The man spoke, his voice calm and almost amused, "Well, well. You must be the one who took out my two scouts earlier."

Keeping his voice equally calm, Asuma replied, "Are you angry?"

Shrugging, the man replied in an easy tone, "Eh...whatever. Building up our current forces took us a while, but now that we're feudal lords of this country, men like them will be easy to find."

"We? I guess that would make you one of these Janin I've heard so much about."

Chuckling, the man responded, "You guess correctly. My name is Ruiga, the youngest of the Janin brothers."

"Delighted...though I didn't ask."

The man smiled nastily at Asuma's impudence. "And what about you, Konoha-san? What are you doing so far from home?"

Settling into a relaxed, but ready stance, Asuma replied, "I've been hired to protect a caravan of merchants. I know from talking to your scouts earlier that you're here to attack that caravan."

The man put his hands up in an apparently harmless gesture, "Oh no, I'm not here to attack the caravan. I'm just here to bring back a very particular member of it. If you talked to my men, then you must surely know about the princess?"

Asuma looked back at the man evenly, saying nothing.

"Lady Haruna is the princess of the Land of Greens, she shouldn't be leaving the country during such an important time. I'm just here to bring her back to the capital, where she belongs," the rogue shinobi looked up at Asuma with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "I believe you were hired to protect a merchant caravan, but are you being paid enough to protect a princess? What do you say...just let me complete my mission, and I'll let you complete yours. I promise no further violence if I'm allowed to retrieve the girl."

Staring back stonily, Asuma replied, "The caravan, and everyone in it, are under the protection of the Hidden Leaf Village. I'm taking the princess back to Konoha with me. Unless you want to risk an incident with the Leaf, turn back now."

Ruiga's eyes narrowed, and he stared hard at Asuma for several moments before responding, "You're bluffing. If the Hidden Leaf had any interest in this country, they would have sent far more troops. I'd be facing a whole cohort of Leaf ninjas, not just one." The man paused for a moment, before suddenly smirking again, "Ah, I see...what did she offer you? Whatever it was, you should know she can't possibly hope to pay. The Land of Greens is an impoverished nation. Trust me...I spent some time earlier today perusing the pitiful wealth of this country myself...it was pathetic."

Asuma shook his head, "Not everyone does what they do for money alone. Besides, if this country is so poor, why are you interested in it?"

"Heh, who says we are? This country is paltry, but it will make a useful starting point. It's just a stepping stone, is all."

Asuma snorted, "So that's how it is, huh? How boring...I've seen loads of guys like you. You get a little power, and you think that makes you conquerors." Setting himself back into a ready combat stance, Asuma continued, "I'm gonna say this one more time...back off."

Ruiga sighed in apparent resignation, "If that's the way you want it then...I guess I'll just have to leave nothing of you for them to find."

As the rogue shinobi spoke, two orbs of water floated up in the air behind him.

Asuma blinked in surprise. _Water? Where did that come from?_ Looking down, Asuma saw hundreds of similar orbs of water floating up towards the tree branches himself and his opponent were standing on. _Whoops...shouldn't have let him talk, I guess._

" _Water-style: Liquid Memory!_ "

As the enemy completed his jutsu, the orbs of water suddenly burst forward, converging on the Leaf Village jounin. Asuma was forced to leap away, rapidly changing position in order to avoid the attack.

Asuma clenched his teeth. _He's trying to capture me with that water…_

Asuma leapt from tree branch to tree branch, forced to stay constantly in motion in order to avoid the grasping orbs. Even as he moved, though, he still managed to keep an eye on the enemy ninja, carefully observing him to watch for any follow-up attacks. Strangely, the enemy never changed his position, standing still in the spot he had been in when the fight began.

 _Hm, he's not moving. Maybe he needs to stay still in order to focus on his jutsu? In that case…_

Managing to get a little more distance between himself and the pursuing water, Asuma threw down a smoke bomb, swiftly disappearing from the enemy's view as pitch black smoke obscured the immediate area.

A small ways away, Ruiga was unimpressed, "A smoke bomb, huh? That won't do you any good."

Sending some of his water up above the cloud, he allowed some of the orbs to burst, causing it to rain down, swiftly clearing the thick smoke out of the air. When a form became visible within the smoke, the rest of Ruiga's water speedily surrounded and enveloped it, completing the capture of the enemy. "All too easy...huh?" As the remainder of the smoke cleared away, Ruiga saw that the form he had captured was, in fact, a log.

From his new position behind the enemy, Asuma launched a cloud of kunai and shuriken at the enemy's back. _Let's see...if I force you to move, will that slow down your jutsu as well?_

Unfortunately, Asuma wouldn't get the chance to find out. Just a few feet from striking the enemy, all his projectiles suddenly stopped in mid-air. Or rather, not in mid-air. As Asuma looked, he saw that a sphere of water had formed around the Janin, holding all of his weapons firmly in place, and protecting Ruiga from harm. _He has enough water to shield himself, too? Where's he getting all this water from, anyway? Is he generating it with just his chakra?_

From his spot on the tree branch, Ruiga chuckled. Turning around to face Asuma, he spoke, "I see...you used the smoke to briefly conceal yourself, and then used the substitution-jutsu to get behind me so you could launch an attack. Not good enough, though."

Forming his left hand into a seal, Asuma snarled, "How about _this,_ then?

The next second, the exploding tags that Asuma had attached to the hilts of his kunai ignited and then exploded, still held as they were right next to the Janin by his opponent's jutsu. Asuma watched closely as the smoke from the explosion dissipated...though judging by the way the spheres of water nearby didn't lose their shape, he knew fairly well what to expect. Sure enough, when the last of the smoke cleared, his enemy was still standing in the exact same spot, visibly uninjured. The protective shield of water around him was somewhat tattered, thinned overall and with some holes here and there. Nonetheless, the water appeared to be regenerating at an astonishing rate, the holes filling in within seconds. Soon enough, it appeared as though Asuma's attack had never even happened.

Ruiga laughed openly now, "Not bad! That won't do you any good either, though!"

Asuma stared at his opponent grimly. _Did I underestimate him? How is it possible that he's able to create this much water? Using water-jutsu without a source of water nearby requires a lot of chakra. I'm no chakra sensor...but even I would be able to feel it if his chakra was_ that _massive. Something's not right here…_

Ruiga smirked at Asuma, "Trying to figure it out? It wouldn't matter even if you knew. My water gives me the ultimate attack and defense! I'll show you!"

Allowing his water shield to drop for just a moment, Ruiga summoned a large ball of water over to him. Pricking his thumb with his teeth, he flashed through a series of hand seals and then placed his palm against the ball of water. " _Summoning Jutsu!_ "

Asuma's eyes widened in abject shock as the summoned creatures came into view. _Okay...I gotta hand it to him..._ _ **that's**_ _a new one._

Appearing within the ball of water in a flurry of bubbles, a swarm of piranhas turned their fishy gazes onto Asuma, their teeth gnashing in apparent hunger.

 _You've got to be kidding me! He has so much water he can use fish summons on dry land!?_

"By all means, struggle as much as you can," Ruiga said with an evil grin, "Difficult prey just makes them hungrier."

The ball of water containing the piranhas jetted forward, the fish inside swimming along with it, their beady eyes trained hungrily on Asuma. Asuma was now forced to move even faster, dodging the large ball of water and the numerous smaller orbs that tried to slow him down. This time his enemy followed after him, his tonfa held out in front of him, directing his water forward and not letting Asuma out of his sight.

 _Well, I may as well see if this works,_ Asuma thought as he prepared one more exploding tag. Spinning around in the air mid-leap, Asuma threw an explosive-laced kunai at the piranha ball. The tag detonated as soon as it made contact, blasting away a large amount of water. As Asuma had half expected, though, not only were the predatory fish within not harmed, but the water within the ball seemed to be restored within seconds. _Like I thought, my attacks aren't having any effect. The amount of water he has is practically unlimited...I can't attack him or damage his summons. There's got to be something…_

It was at this moment that Asuma heard something he really hadn't wanted to hear.

"Asuma-sensei!" Off to his right, his orange-clad student suddenly came into view.

 _Goddammit, Naruto!_ Asuma began furiously changing his plans, trying to think of a way to protect himself and his student.

Before Asuma could do anything, Naruto turned and flung a pair of small, silver objects...not at the enemy, but instead toward Asuma. The tiny objects impacted the trunk of the tree whose branch Asuma had just landed on, and stayed there, sticking out of the bark. Then, just as suddenly as he had appeared, Naruto burst into a cloud of smoke and vanished.

Asuma breathed a sigh of relief. _Good, it was just a shadow clone...that means I won't have to save him and then kill him later._ Still, Naruto's appearance had left many questions. Turning to look at the tree trunk, Asuma saw that the small silver objects Naruto had thrown at him were...Ms. Miyako's dowsing rods. _Okay...is this supposed to tell me something?_

A small ways away, Ruiga had also stopped, apparently wary at the appearance of a second enemy. "Eh? Who was that? And what are those?" he asked.

Asuma looked back and forth between the dowsing rods and his opponent. As he pondered, he suddenly noticed something about his enemy. Ruiga had an unusual way of carrying his tonfa. Typically, tonfa were held with the long part of the rod tucked up under the forearm, except when attacking. The enemy, on the other hand, had been carrying his tonfa in reverse, with the long rods extending beyond his arms. Even when pursuing Asuma he had run with the tonfa pointing straight out in front of him, following them almost like...like a pair of dowsing rods.

Asuma smiled. _Good work, kids._ Hinata must have been watching the fight from a distance with her byakugan, then Naruto sent one of his clones along to pass the information she gathered on to Asuma.

Pulling the small, bent rods out of the trunk, Asuma turned once more to face his opponent. "These," he said, "are the tools that are going to help me defeat you."

Ruiga snorted in derision, "If you say so." Pointing his tonfa at Asuma, he sent his water forth, once more.

Asuma once again had to dodge as the numerous orbs of water and the piranhas resumed chasing him. This time, though, he had a plan. Continuing to move around the enemy, Asuma waited until just the right moment, when a small opening appeared between him and his opponent. Not hesitating a second, Asuma leapt forward, heading straight at Ruiga.

Halting and drawing up his shield of water, Ruiga held his ground. "Hmph, useless…"

Still running forward, Asuma flew through a series of hand seals and inhaled sharply, " _Wind-style: Air Bullet Jutsu!_ " Asuma spat out a trio of fist-sized bullets of air, which slammed into his opponent's shield, blasting away chunks of water and opening a few holes in the shield.

"That won't be enough!" Ruiga mocked, his shield already restoring itself.

"It wasn't supposed to be!" Asuma pulled out both of his trench knives and began pouring chakra into them. Flying through the air until he was right in his opponent's face, Asuma slashed out with both of his knives.

Ruiga watched in shock as his shield, already weakened by his opponent's initial attack, was suddenly torn asunder by Asuma's knives. _What!? How the hell…?_ Looking at the Leaf ninja's weapons, Ruiga now noticed that the trench knives were bathed in chakra, long, ethereal blades extending from each of them, turning them into veritable swords. _Is that...wind chakra?_

"Shit!" His defences brought down for the moment, Ruiga was forced to fall back, flipping around his tonfa and holding them up for self-defense. Asuma pursued the rogue shinobi, furiously striking out with his knives. Forced onto the defensive for the first time, Ruiga clenched his teeth and blocked the strikes with his tonfa. _I only need to hold him off for a few more seconds until...there!_

As the two exchanged melee attacks, the large sphere of water containing the piranhas had been coming up behind Asuma. Having run out time, Asuma was forced to leap away to avoid being caught and eaten. Now with a bit of breathing room, Ruiga was able to recollect his water around himself, again.

"Huh...that was decent, I'll grant you," Ruiga said, now looking at Asuma with annoyance, "but still, not enough."

Asuma, on the other hand, still appeared quite calm. "Oh, I don't about that. I'd say that attack did what it needed to do," he gestured at the weapons held in his foe's hands.

Ruiga looked down, to see his now-ruined tonfa fall apart in his hands. The rotating blades of wind chakra on Asuma's knives had cut right through them, leaving Ruiga holding the useless stumps that were the handles. Ruiga ground his teeth in irritation, "You think that's going to stop me?"

"Stop you? No. But I do think it's going to slow you down some." Making hand seals again, Asuma repeated his earlier jutsu, " _Wind-style: Air Bullet Jutsu!_ "

Asuma fired off another salvo of air bullets, but this time his target wasn't Ruiga, but rather the piranhas. His first few shots seemed no more effective than before, blasting away chunks of water but doing no damage to the summoned animals within. However, this time the water composing the ball didn't come back nearly as quickly, and the subsequent air bullets tore the sphere apart completely, sending the vicious fish flying through the air, and leaving them flopping helplessly on the ground. Within a few seconds, the piranhas had all vanished in puffs of smoke, the summoning having ended.

Asuma smirked as his opponent watched, dumbfounded. "Like I thought," he said, "You've been using your tonfa like dowsing rods. By focusing your jutsu through them, you're able to find water underground, and pull it up through the earth, giving you a nearly limitless supply of water no matter where you are. Water jutsus are generally more taxing in places without standing water, because they require you to create water using only chakra. But you're able to bypass that with your special jutsu, giving you access to more powerful water techniques even when there are no water sources nearby. It's pretty clever, I'll grant you, but it does come with one drawback…" Looking at the Janin's ruined tonfa, he continued, "You've trained yourself to use those tonfa as a focus. Without them, your control is crippled. I'd wager you can't sense the water underground like you could before, and your ability to pull the water up through the earth is hindered as well."

Grinding his teeth, Ruiga looked down. Much as he hated to admit it, the Konoha Jounin was correct. He could no longer detect sources of groundwater nearly as accurately as before, and what had once been a stream of water coming out of the earth had now been reduced to a trickle. The Leaf ninja had already succeeded at getting through his defenses, even when his jutsu was at full power. Without that constant flow of water, his shield wouldn't last long. Ruiga had no choice but to admit that he was outmatched.

"Control, huh?" Ruiga said, "In that case, I guess I'll have to finish this with brute force!" Slamming his hands together into a seal, Ruiga gathered up all the remaining water he had control of in the area, which was still a considerable amount. " _Water-style: Vortex of Destruction!_ " As Ruiga finished his jutsu, the hundreds of orbs of water he still had with him combined together, forming a massive tornado of water. As soon as the tornado was formed it lurched forward, heading right toward Asuma.

Asuma made a split second decision. It would be possible to destroy the vortex, but it would require a large amount of chakra to do so. Better to just dodge it. Moving quickly, Asuma made his way around the gigantic water spout. As he made it out beyond the outer edge of the vortex, the jutsu continued right along past him, still heading in the same direction it had been. As Asuma had expected, the jutsu was a unidirectional attack, designed to deal massive damage in one direction; and while it wasn't exactly slow, it wasn't nearly fast enough to hit a shinobi of his level without something tying him down.

Looking over to where his opponent still stood, Asuma inquired, "Are you sure that was the best way to use the rest of your water? You didn't even come close to hitting me."

"It wasn't supposed to hit you," Ruiga replied calmly.

Asuma glanced in the direction of the vortex. The waterspout was still going, tearing through the forest, ripping apart foliage and knocking down large trees, moving steadily away from the two dueling shinobi. Likely the jutsu would continue on for a while, until the chakra sustaining it ran out. It was headed in a generally eastward direction, toward the road...and the caravan.

 _Shit!_

* * *

Some ways away, the caravan continued on. As their commander had instructed, the three Leaf Village genin had kept the caravan moving the whole time.

"Can you see anything?" Chouji asked, looking at Hinata.

Allowing her byakugan to recede, Hinata shook her head. "No, they moved beyond my range a little while ago. I can't see what's happening anymore. I'm not even sure if the clone completed its mission...I'm sorry," Hinata apologized. Not for the first time, she cursed her own weakness. If the range of her byakugan had been as large as it should have been, she would have been easily able to observe Asuma-sensei's battle even now.

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said firmly. He had received his clones memories a short while ago. "The clone completed its mission. It got the dowsing rods to Asuma-sensei."

Chouji sighed, "Now we just have to hope sensei gets the message…"

Naruto replied with certainty, "He got it. Don't worry, Asuma-sensei's going to win."

"I sure hope you're right…" Chouji replied.

A few more minutes passed in silence, leaving each member of the caravan alone with their own thoughts. The only sounds that could be heard for a while were the creaking of the cart wheels, and the huffing and puffing of the clones who pushed them.

After a while, Hinata began running through a familiar set of hand seals. Noticing this, Naruto spoke, "Hey, Hinata...Sensei warned you not to overtax your byakugan, remember?"

Nodding, Hinata replied, "I...I know...i-it's just...do you hear that?"

"What do you mean…?"

Even as Naruto spoke, he became aware of the sound Hinata was talking about. It sounded like thunder off in the distance, but instead of fading, it got louder over time, like a waterfall as one approached it. Soon even the caravaners began hearing it too, causing them to nervously look left and right for the source of the approaching sound.

Completing the seal sequence, Hinata once again activated her bloodline-limit. As her pupils came into focus and the veins surrounding her eyes bulged, Hinata began scanning with her enhanced eyesight. An instant later her eyes bugged out visibly, and she sputtered in shock, " _Oh, shit!_ "

Ordinarily, hearing such crass language coming from Hinata of all people would have been absolutely hilarious to Naruto. Unfortunately, he had no time to enjoy seeing the Hyuuga heiress using the first expletive of her entire life, as a brief second later he too saw the source of her consternation.

A few hundred yards behind the caravan, an enormous tornado of water burst through the trees, heading right for the party. The water spiral picked up entire trees and massive boulders and hurled them through the air, destroying all in its path.

Time seemed to freeze for Naruto. He looked around, seeing the faces of all those he was supposed to protect. He was glad to see that, fortunately, his clones didn't even need to be told what to do. Several of them had already scooped up the smallest of the caravaners, the children, and leapt away toward safety, moving as fast as possible to get them out of the path of the vortex. A part of his mind noticed in passing that Kikunojou and Yurinojou had already done the same with Princess Haruna. Unfortunately, that still left the majority of the caravaners in harm's way, many of whom were diving for cover under the carts...not that it would do them any good, but there was no other shelter available.

Naruto's mind churned a mile a minute. He knew what he needed to do...he needed to summon up a host of new clones to carry all the remaining members of the caravan to safety...but even as his hands flew through the seal combination for the shadow clone jutsu, he knew he wouldn't be fast enough. The tornado was barreling down on them, coming closer every second. Beside him, Naruto saw that Chouji's hands were growing to massive size, taking hold of the sides of one of the carts and preparing to pick it up wholly off the ground, while Hinata screamed at the caravaners over the roar of the water spiral to get up on top of the cart and not under it. The looks in their eyes told Naruto that they also realized that their efforts were likely in vain. As he mentally calculated the duration it would take for them to complete their jutsus and carry all of the civilians to safety, Naruto came to the inevitable conclusion that they were going to run out of time.

 _We're...we're not going to make it,_ he realized with growing horror, _We can't save them!_

As their doom barreled down on them, the large, familiar frame of Asuma-sensei suddenly appeared out of thin air between themselves and the vortex.

Pouring as much chakra as he possibly could into his trench knives, Asuma crouched and then leapt into the air, bringing the weapons together as he did so. " _Wind-style: Rising wind!_ " As Asuma rose into the air before the water tornado, a massive blade of wind grew out his trench knives and cut through the air before him, slamming into the vortex of water. When wind and water jutsus met, the more focused wind jutsu cut right through, splitting the tornado of water vertically in two. As the waters were separated, the jutsu lost cohesion, and hundreds of gallons of water crashed to the earth, soaking the road, the caravan, and the surrounding countryside.

With the roar of the water jutsu now gone, the ensuing silence was deafening. For a moment, nothing could be heard but the sound of the waters receding and the coughing and sputtering of the stunned caravaners as they slowly picked themselves up off the ground.

Looking around at the group, Asuma slowly relaxed, the tension in his body easing as he realized that the danger had now passed. "Is everyone alright?" he asked.

"We're fine, sensei," Chouji replied, speaking for himself and his teammates.

"Somehow...I think we are all alright, Asuma-san," Ms. Miyako replied, watching as Naruto's clones returned carrying the younger children, many of whom were bawling as the clones handed them off to their mothers.

"Asuma-sensei," Hinata spoke up, "the enemy…?"

"Got away," Asuma replied simply, not saying any more about the matter.

Internally, Asuma ground his teeth at the memory. The instant that Asuma had realized the trajectory of his enemy's jutsu, the Janin had swiftly taken off in the opposite direction. Asuma had tried to snipe the enemy with one of his remaining kunai, but had known in advance that he wouldn't be successful. Faced with opposing objectives travelling in opposite directions, Asuma had been forced to make a choice: pursue and finish off the enemy, or return and protect the caravan. Unfortunately, his opponent had guessed correctly what kind of shinobi Asuma was, and he had been forced to let the enemy go. Asuma didn't regret his choice, but the memory still infuriated him, especially given that it had been his own fault. He had let his guard down after the rogue shinobi's weapons had been destroyed, and it had cost him his chance to eliminate one of the primary threats.

Forcing down his emotions and once more regaining his equilibrium, Asuma spoke, addressing the caravan and the trio from Greens Country who had just returned from the woods, "I know it's a lot to ask, everyone's been through a lot today...but we need to get moving again. The fork is just up ahead. Please...just a little further, everyone."

Agreeing with their protector's instructions, the caravaners, with shinobi assistance, slowly but surely got the carts moving once more. And so the caravan, exhausted, bedraggled, and soaked to the bone, limped down the home stretch to its first destination.

* * *

Leaping from tree branch to tree branch, Ruiga cursed everything, loudly and repeatedly. The fight had gone from good to bad so quickly it gave him whiplash. He had been so certain of his impending victory, right up until the moment his opponent had torn down his defenses with contemptuous ease and proceeded to cripple his jutsu. Without his tonfa, his technique was vastly weaker, and he had realized immediately that his opportunity to win had been lost (if it had ever even been there in the first place).

Clearly, he had substantially underestimated his opponent, and perhaps even...he shuddered with rage to even think it...overestimated himself a little bit. He had, of course, seen the bodies of his two dispatched scouts, and known that the enemy he was soon to face wasn't a complete pushover. That said, while the two had been proficient enough killers, they were still rather run-of-the-mill rogue shinobi, so it was no great surprise that they had lost to a hidden village ninja. Even so, he hadn't been expecting more than perhaps a decently skilled Chunin, and his initial success in the fight had seemed to bear that out. But it was clear to him now that the Leaf ninja was much, much more than that.

Now he was left with no choice but to return to the castle empty-handed. Without his tonfa he stood little chance of succeeding in his mission, and he unfortunately didn't have any spare tonfa with him. Of course, returning in his current state carried with it its own set of risks. Doubtless, his brothers were already aware of his failure, Renga's far-seeing spy jutsu would see to that. It was entirely possible that one or both of his brothers would take advantage of his weakened state to rid themselves of him. Still, he didn't have many other options but to return. He would just have to hope that his brothers still had need of his strength for the time being.

As he ran forward, Ruiga suddenly sensed a presence directly ahead of him. He stopped dead and prepared himself for anything.

"Well, I'd say from looking at you that things didn't go according to plan, eh?" Emerging from the forest, his elder brother, Jiga, appeared directly in front of him.

Ruiga looked at his brother with surprise and suspicion. "Jiga, what are you doing here? How did you get here so fast?"

Jiga shrugged, casually. "Renga thought that you might have trouble handling it yourself, so he sent me along to back you up. Lucky he did, too. So, what happened? How'd you end up getting chased off like a mangy dog?"

Grinding his teeth in humiliation, Ruiga responded, "The enemy is a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf Village. Guy's a jounin, too...has to be. I wasn't expecting resistance of that caliber, that's all. I need to go get my spare tonfa, and then I'll come up with a plan to deal with him."

Shaking his head, Jiga tutted at his brother's naivete, "There's no time for you to go all the way back to castle. We need to deal with this situation now, before the princess crosses the border. If we combine our strength, you and I should be able to deal with a jounin."

"There's more," Ruiga replied, calming down now that it appeared his brother wasn't here to kill him, "There's at least one other Leaf shinobi. This one's just a kid though…"

"A kid, huh?" Jiga said, thoughtfully, "Like master and disciple? In that case, there's probably at least two more. The bigger villages like to send out their greenhorns in groups of three, with a higher level shinobi as their leader and instructor. Guess we just got unlucky that this group had someone really troublesome as its commander."

"We'll need to find a way to separate the jounin from the group, or else those kids could end up getting in the way…" Ruiga said. He had no intention of mentioning to his brother that that was precisely the reason he had lost his previous fight.

Jiga just chuckled in response, "Oh, don't you worry about that, little brother." Jiga snapped his fingers. As he did so, a group of their henchmen shinobi appeared from the forest surrounding them, landing on tree branches in a circle around the two Janin. "We noticed that you didn't take ten men with you, like Renga told you. So I brought them along, just in case. We'll let the grunts deal with the grunts."

Ruiga nodded, still looking at his brother with a bit of suspicion, "Fair enough. You and I will take the jounin together, then?"

Jiga smiled a smile that didn't reach up to his eyes, and nodded. "Together."

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 _A/N:_

 _Thanks as always for reading. Please leave a review, even just a few words are highly appreciated._

 _I know, I know...I didn't do any better of a job getting this chapter out in a timely manner either. I'm trying._

 _Anyway, I actually had a lot more fun writing the fight in this chapter than the last one. Because the shinobi involved are much higher level, I was able to focus on the tactics and jutsu that were used, rather than trying to give a detailed description of taijutsu, which is not my strong suit. Let me know what you thought, and if you enjoyed the fight._

 _(1.) So I introduce another OC this chapter: Kozaru the rhesus monkey summon-animal. Obviously, this means that in this story Asuma also has the summon contract with monkeys, like his father. In canon, the Third Hokage is the only one ever seen to summon monkeys, but this story assumes that both of his sons also have access to this summon contract. Also in canon, Monkey King Enma is the only monkey summon we ever see. But I mean...he's got to be king of_ something _, right? Anyway, this story also assumes that there are lots of different monkeys to be summoned, as there are with other summon contracts. For the time being, Hiruzen is the only one who can summon King Enma, but Asuma and Gendo can summon many of the king's subordinates, such as Kozaru. As an amusing side note, the name Kozaru literally translates to "little monkey" and was apparently the nickname given by Oda Nobunaga to his subordinate Toyotomi Hideyoshi, which is where I got the idea._

 _(2.) This chapter also answers a question that a lot of you have been asking about, that being the shadow-clone jutsu's memory retention function. I have indeed been planning to address this all along. I wanted to make sure that I gave it some time, and that I provided good justification for everything. It's really important to me that this jutsu not become too OP. There are far too many fics that I have read where Naruto just spams out a bunch of clones and proceeds to ascend to jounin level in like, a week. This jutsu can, indeed, be used to accelerate one's development, but there needs to be some kind of limitation, which, fortunately, canon provides for us (not that the limitation ended up counting for much in canon). It is true that in Shippuden, Naruto is able to train with hundreds of clones and not suffer too much in the way of consequences, but again, this is years later after he has developed a great deal. At this point in the story, I am assuming that the limitation is still a serious concern for Naruto._

 _I also hopefully provided a decent explanation for how Naruto could go so long without ever noticing that he received the memories of his clones, which in my opinion is a rather large plot hole in canon._

 _(3.) I'd also like to take a little time to give a slightly more in-depth explanation about how water-jutsus work with regards to this story, how Ruiga's jutsu relates to this, and why this means he was able to hold his own against someone much stronger than him, like Asuma._

 _There are two different ways of using water jutsu: one is to create water directly from one's chakra for use in the jutsu, and the other is to use an existing outside water source. A shinobi can transmute their elemental chakra directly into that element itself, thus a water user can literally create water out of nothing (other than chakra) for their jutsu. From what I can tell, this appears to be the case in canon as well. The obvious drawback to doing this is that the chakra cost for any given water jutsu is much, much higher, and also the difficulty of creating the jutsu is much greater as well. Conversely, if there is any standing water nearby, a shinobi can simply infuse the water with his chakra, and use that as the basis for his jutsu, instead. For the sake of this story, I am saying that doing this decreases the chakra cost of a given water jutsu by more than half, as well as making the jutsu easier to use. This obviously has a huge impact on the effectiveness of a shinobi who utilizes water style ninjutsu. Water style is somewhat unique in that regard, in that a given shinobi's strength will actually vary wildly depending on_ where _they are. For example, in a place with no standing water sources, only an extremely high-level shinobi, like the Second Hokage, will be able to use high-level water jutsus, and average shinobi will be restricted to smaller, lower level techniques, and will pay a higher cost for using them. Conversely, when there is abundant water nearby, a water jutsu user will be able to use higher level jutsus, and at a lower cost._

 _This is where Ruiga's_ Water Style: Liquid Memory _jutsu comes in, as it compensates for this potential weakness. Ruiga, with his special water sensing technique (a massively powered up version of Ms. Miyako's dowsing technique), is able to locate water sources underground, and then pull the water up through the earth for his use. In so doing, he is able to use much higher level jutsus for less chakra no matter where he is, even in places where there is no water. In addition, this also means he can utilize water in ways other shinobi would never dream of doing, both for his summons and for his own personal defence. What's more, he can use this to continually replenish the water he uses, making his jutsus and his defences that much stronger. It's actually quite a brilliant workaround, and makes Ruiga much more effective than he would otherwise be. It comes with a fatal flaw, of course, that being Ruiga's dependence on his tonfa. So while, no, Ruiga is not as strong as Asuma, because of his unique jutsu he is still a pretty legitimate threat, even to someone on a higher level than him._

 _(4.)_ Wind Style: Air Bullet Jutsu _\- This is a canon wind jutsu, and while Asuma is never shown using it, it seems like a pretty basic sort of wind jutsu to me, so I think Asuma being able to use it is fair. Pretty self-explanatory, the jutsu user spits out a varying number of fist-sized air bullets. Somewhat different compared to Asuma's other wind jutsus in that it deals impact, rather than cutting, damage._

 _(5.)_ Wind Style: Rising Wind - _This one is not canon, but is pretty simple in concept. Basically, Asuma creates a blade of wind originating from his trench knives, but instead of staying connected to the weapon, he can project the wind blade forward. He can do this to create multiple small blades of wind or, as he did here, pour lots of chakra into the jutsu to form one massive wind blade._

* * *

 _Anyway, next chapter will be almost entirely action. Hope you guys will stick with me._

 _Thanks a lot for all the favorites and follows, and especially for those that took the time to leave a review. It's really encouraging, and highly appreciated._

 _Regards,_

 _MD_


	7. The Janin's Assault

**Ch. 7 The Janin's Assault**

* * *

The sun had completely set by the time the caravan and their shinobi guardians finally bid one another farewell. Though the daylight at this point was little more than a purplish smudge on the horizon, the moon was large in the sky and provided ample light for the caravaners as they made their way down the small side road that lead away from the main route. As the caravan had grown smaller in the distance, Naruto, Hinata, and Chouji had waved to the friendly people they had gotten to know for only a day. Momiji, whom Chouji, in particular, had grown rather fond of in a short period of time, could be seen standing atop the clone-driven cart, waving goodbye until the caravan had gone around a bend and been lost from sight.

Princess Haruna had watched all of this with a frown. She apparently still thought that the caravaners would be useful to her as decoys. Not that Asuma really cared what she thought. For him, his primary goal at this point was to make sure that the merchants were completely safe and out of the line of fire. His plan for doing so was simple: while the caravan moved off down the side road and took cover in the village it led to, the Leaf shinobi and the trio from the Land of Greens would set up camp not far from the fork in the road, deliberately drawing any pursuit toward them and away from the caravan. Naturally, the princess had been none too pleased with this plan, but Asuma had refused to help her otherwise. She had placed the merchants in harm's way, and now she would help get them out by acting as _their_ decoy instead.

After the caravan had gone, the six combined shinobi had set about creating their camp. Yurinojou and Kikunojou had been allowed to select the exact location, and had chosen a wide clearing amidst the trees, one filled with a variety of Greens Country flowers. Asuma had even gone to the length of building a fire, which was sure to draw any pursuers right to them, but that was what he was expecting.

Asuma was sitting on a log by the fire, staring into the flames, a burned-out cigarette held loosely in his mouth when Kikunojou approached and sat next to him.

"We've placed the last of the traps, Asuma-san," the Greens Country shinobi said over the crackling of the fire. "Chouji-san is just checking the perimeter one last time."

Asuma nodded in reply, "We're as ready as we'll ever be. Now we just have to wait for the enemy to show up."

The two fell silent for a moment, listening to the sounds of the fire and the various animal life that inhabited the wilds around them. Eventually, Kikunojou spoke up again, "I'd like to thank you, Asuma-san...on behalf of the princess. I know you're under no obligation to help us, but you're doing so, anyway. Whatever your reasons, I'm grateful that you're willing to place yourselves in danger to protect Lady Haruna."

Asuma smirked slightly through his cigarette, and observed mildly, "I suppose you have to thank me on the princess's behalf...seeing as how she'll never do it herself."

Kikunojou sighed, "That is, unfortunately, probably true. Her Highness...wasn't always like that…"

Asuma nodded, "I figured as much. You and Yurinojou wouldn't be as devoted to her as you are if you didn't care for her personally." Taking out his cigarette and flicking it into the flames, he asked, "So, what's her story exactly?"

Kikunojou looked away from Asuma and toward the fire. Staring deeply into the flames, he began relating the story, "When we were younger, Lady Haruna was an innocent and friendly child. She loved roaming throughout the capital of the Land of Greens, meeting various people and leading Yurinojou and myself on all kinds of childish adventures. The two of us grew up with her, we were her bodyguards, but also her friends. In those days, everything was peaceful, and it seemed to us like things would go on that way forever." Sighing deeply now, he continued, "They didn't, of course. In time, the Land of Greens was threatened by the stronger nations surrounding it. The princess was sent away to the court of another country's feudal lord, in name as a guest, but in truth…"

"...As a hostage." Asuma finished for him. He understood. Such things were sadly common amongst small nations living in the shadow of much more powerful lands. The greater shinobi nations, in particular, cast a very large shadow over the nations surrounding them.

Kikunojou nodded in confirmation, "Some years later, when Lady Haruna finally returned to the Land of Greens, she had changed. The innocent girl we had once known was gone. She had completely lost her ability to trust people, and kept everyone at arm's length. She pushed away everyone who tried to get close to her, including Yurinojou and myself...and even her own father. The humiliation she experienced all those years as a hostage taught her to use other people, just as she herself was used. Lady Haruna is also a victim of a chaotic world."

Asuma was silent for a moment before responding, "I understand, better than you might think. But even so, it doesn't help anything to allow her to victimize others just because she herself was a victim. That's just continuing the cycle that she herself was caught up in."

"I know," Kikunojou replied, "and I'll do all in my power to make sure no one else becomes a victim, including the Lady Haruna herself." Turning to Asuma, Kikunojou leaned forward, speaking earnestly now, "That's why I wanted to tell you, Asuma-san...if the battle looks to be going poorly, you should take your students and flee. There's no reason why you all should sacrifice your lives on our account. If any more sacrifices need to be made, Yurinojou and I will be the ones to make them. We'll protect the princess somehow, even if it costs us our lives."

"Don't be too ready to sacrifice yourself, either, Kikunojou-san," Asuma cautioned. "I understand you pity her, but…"

"It's not that," Kikunojou interrupted, shaking his head vehemently. "It's just that...when we were younger, Yurinojou and I promised to keep Lady Haruna safe. It was a child's oath, but still, we meant it. We thought we could protect Lady Haruna from anything." Clenching his fists tightly, he went on, "And yet, that day...the day Lady Haruna was taken away...we did nothing. We couldn't do anything. All we could do was watch as she was carried off to another nation. Yurinojou and I swore an oath after that...we swore that we would never let anything like that happen again. We will protect the princess this time, no matter what the price. Even if it costs us our lives we won't let the princess be taken away."

Now growing quiet, Kikunojou turned and looked back into the fire. Speaking softly, he finished, "I'm certain...that Lady Haruna's father felt the same."

Joining him in looking into the flames, Asuma replied, "My father is the Third Hokage, the leader of our village, so I understand a little the position the feudal lord was put in. Being the leader is never easy. It's tough, but, sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the sake of those you lead...even personal ones."

Kikunojou nodded, "That may true, but...I think there's more to it than that. I don't know this for sure, but I've heard that all those years ago there were also other nations that had designs on Lady Haruna herself. Whatever the case, I'm convinced that the feudal lord did what he did to protect Lady Haruna, as well." Leaning back and looking up at the stars, Kikunojou continued, "For any parent...for any adult, really...protecting the next generation is always the most important thing. More so than any other duty…"

As Kikunojou trailed off, Asuma mulled over his words in the ensuing silence that followed.

The two were still sitting together silently when Naruto approached. "Sensei," he said, getting his commander's attention, "the rearguard shadow-clones spotted the enemy. They're moving in more cautiously this time, but they'll be here within the next ten minutes."

As he and Kikunojou rose together from their seats, Asuma queried his student, "I see, the clone managed to get a good look at them this time? How many are there?"

Nodding, Naruto answered, "Yeah, there are at least a dozen of them this time. That guy from before is back, and there's another guy with him that also looks pretty tough. A big guy with a kusarigama."

"That matches the description we got for one of the other Janin brothers," Kikunojou stated.

"Hm, they're earlier than we expected, too," Asuma remarked, "Ruiga must have run into reinforcements on his way back to the capital."

Asuma checked over his equipment one last time. "Leave any of the Janin that show up to me, you focus on taking care of as many of the lesser enemies as you can," he instructed Kikunojou, before turning to Naruto, "Go and get Chouji, Naruto, and get everyone into formation."

"Roger," the two responded promptly, each moving off to get into position. Naruto headed off to the edge of the camp to retrieve Chouji, while Kikunojou put out the fire that he and Asuma had been sitting around.

As the minutes passed, the group all assumed their assigned positions. Asuma stood out front, preparing to meet the two Janin head-on. Kikunojou stood just behind him and to his right, ready to intercept and counterattack any other enemies who went around Asuma. Finally, the four remaining shinobi, Naruto, Chouji, Hinata, and Yurinojou, stood in a circle around Haruna, ready to deflect attacks on the princess from any direction.

The enemy didn't bother to try to disguise their approach. Likely they knew that they had already been detected. The twelve rogue shinobi appeared at the edge of the clearing, Ruiga standing at the fore, flanked by another man who must have been his brother, though the two bore little resemblance to one another. The other Janin was a large, heavyset man with shoulder-length hair and two jagged red tattoos on each cheek. His outfit was mostly the same as all the others of his party, except the kilt-like wrapping at his waist was a pale orange.

"Hmm, so, that's the one who kicked your ass, Ruiga?" the large man spoke up first, questioning his brother.

Ruiga ground his teeth in irritation but didn't rise to his brother's barb. "The one at the front is the Jounin," he confirmed.

"Right," Jiga resumed, scanning over the rest of the party, "and a bunch of snotty little brats, like we thought, and…" As his eyes settled on Kikunojou, Jiga's face twisted into a nasty smirk, "Oh, look, there are a couple of so-called _flower_ ninjas still scurrying about. The last of their kind, unless I'm mistaken. I'd say your comrades put up a good fight, but they all died so quickly I didn't actually get a chance to fight any of them."

This time it was Kikunojou's turn to grind his teeth. " _Scum_!" he snarled, "Your rule over our nation will be short, I swear it!"

Jiga's response was to snicker. "I've heard _that_ before," he replied. Turning slightly, he addressed his men, "Alright you slugs...my brother and I will take the leader...you lot deal with the rest. No prisoners! The man who kills the princess will be rewarded, so don't hold back!"

With a roar, the Janin's minions drew their weapons and charged, half of them circling around Asuma to the left, and half of them to right, moving to attack the group surrounding the princess.

"Not so fast!" Kikunojou drew his own sword and dashed to the right, moving to intercept one of the two groups.

And with that, the battle was joined.

Asuma found himself defending with his trench knives as a flurry of tonfa blows tried to make contact with his head. "Hey there, Ruiga," he said blithely as he held off the rogue ninja, "I see you managed to get yourself some new weapons. Were you smart enough to bring spares, or did someone else give you those?"

Ruiga snarled. Not answering the question, he ground out, "This time...this time you won't get away!"

Asuma quirked an eyebrow in response. "Uuhhhh... _You_ were the one who ran away, last time."

Before either ninja could say anything more, they were both forced to leap back and away from each other as a spiked flail smashed into the ground where the two had been standing a second before.

"Oi! Be careful with that, Jiga!" Ruiga barked at his brother angrily, "You almost hit me!"

"Don't get in my way then," Jiga chuckled in reply, yanking hard on the chain of his kusarigama and bringing the metal ball back to him. Beginning to once again spin the flail end of his weapon in a circle, he spoke to Asuma, "Well then, Leaf ninja, you're in luck! When you get to the next life, you'll be able to brag to people that you were killed by the esteemed Jiga-sama."

" _Neat_ ," Asuma replied, gamely. "Say more cliché bad-guy things."

"Heh, we'll see if you're still joking after I'm done with you!"

Lashing out again, Jiga swung his weapon in a wide arc from right to left that sent the spiked ball flying toward Asuma's left side. The attack was fast and powerful, but fairly predictable in its course. It would have been easy enough to dodge simply by jumping back...but Asuma wasn't fooled. _That attack is designed to drive me back...into the water that Ruiga is pulling up from underground behind me right now._ Instead of falling back, Asuma ran forward, charging right at Jiga. He leapt over the kusarigama's chain, lashing out with one of his trench knives at Jiga, forcing the Janin to defend with his kusarigama's scythe blade as Asuma passed overhead. Landing on the other side of his two opponents, Asuma launched a pair of shurikens at Jiga, before channelling some wind chakra into his knives and slashing into the streams of water that Ruiga had indeed been bringing up behind him.

Laughing as he knocked away the two shurikens that Asuma had sent his way, Jiga spoke once again, "Ha, you really are pretty good! I can see why you were able to beat Ruiga. Still, it was a mistake for you to try to attack _me_." Swinging out with his flail yet again, Jiga sent the weapon flying in a wide, lazy arc in Asuma's general direction.

Asuma watched the attack warily, but with some confusion. _He hasn't let out enough of the chain...that attack's not even going to reach me._ Judging by the course of the weapon, the metal ball would not hit Asuma but would pass through the air a few meters in front of him. Either the Janin had serious issues with depth perception, or this attack was meant for another purpose. Unfortunately, before Asuma could think too much more about it, he suddenly felt his left hand being pulled harshly forward. Looking down at his hand, Asuma found that, to his shock, his trench knife was seemingly pulling him into his opponent's attack. As his grip loosened on the weapon for an instant, Asuma watched as the unseen force yanked the knife right out of his grasp, sending it flying through the air, where it met with Jiga's flail and seemingly became attached.

"I'll be taking that, then," Jiga said with a smirk, spinning his flail above his head with Asuma's trench knife still stuck to it. "But I guess that's rude of me. Here...have it back!"

As Jiga once more whipped his weapon forward, the trench knife suddenly detached from the metal ball and soared right at Asuma at an alarming speed. Asuma was forced to duck quickly out of the way as his own weapon, still aglow with ethereal wind chakra, narrowly passed over him and flew into the trees behind him. Buffed with wind chakra as it was, the knife passed right through the first tree it came across, blasting a hole straight through the solid trunk, before impacting with another tree right behind it, causing the tree to creak ominously as the dissipating wind chakra tore apart the trunk from inside.

 _That...what the heck was that?_ Asuma thought to himself as he rose from the ground. As he moved to stand, though, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his legs. Looking down he saw, to his shock, a shuriken was lodged into each of his upper legs. _Those are...the shuriken that I threw at him? Dang it! He sent those back at me too?_

From a few meters away, Jiga chuckled while dusting off the front of his shirt, "Heh, you may be good...but you're no match for my magnet-jutsu!"

Asuma grit his teeth. _You've got to be kidding me. Ruiga's water trick is bad enough, but now Magnet-style!? That's a legit bloodline-limit!_ Falling back to retrieve his trench knife from the tree, Asuma squared off with his two opponents once more.

This wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

As Asuma was facing off against the two Janin brothers, Kikunojou likewise moved to engage half of the subordinates the Janin had brought along. Outnumbered five to one, Kikunojou knew that he couldn't afford to be defensive. If he fought reactively against so many opponents he would just be overwhelmed and cut down. Instead, he started the fight by going on the offensive.

Swinging his sword low, Kikunojou sliced through the flowers by his feet, expertly cutting the plants right where the blossoms met the stems, sending dozens of flowers flying into the air around him. Jabbing his right arm forward, Kikunojou sent out a burst of chakra, and launched his first attack, " _Bloom: Flower-shuriken jutsu!_ " As he activated his technique, the flowers in the air around Kikunojou were infused with his chakra, hardening, becoming as hard and sharp as steel, and beginning to spin. At Kikunojou's command, the newly created flower shurikens launched through the air, soaring toward his opponents in a beautiful cloud of death.

The five Janin henchmen dealt with the attack relatively easily, dodging the shurikens or deflecting them with their weapons. The attack did very little in the way of damage, nonetheless, it forced the five rogue shinobi to break off their attack on the Princess's group and focus on the shinobi before them.

As one group of henchmen turned to face Kikunojou, the other group made a beeline straight for the group surrounding Haruna.

"Let's go! Overwhelm them, and kill the princess!" the lead shinobi called to his cohorts. So intent was this man on his prey, that he failed to notice it when he stepped on a concealed tripwire.

"Lookout!" one of the other men called to the group, frantically dodging away. The majority of the group was able to leap back and away to safety. However, the man in the lead failed to react in time and was promptly cut down in a hail of kunai. "They've trapped the area, be careful!" The group of criminal ninjas, now minus one, began moving cautiously around the group protecting the princess, attacking from a distance with kunai and shuriken while carefully probing the defences, looking for a way through.

Kikunojou, meanwhile, had to move quickly to avoid being surrounded by the five enemies who were now focused on him. Falling back to a heavily-flowered area that he knew would be free of traps, Kikunojou prepared his next jutsu by cutting more flowers from the earth. " _Bloom: Dance of a Thousand Petals!_ " As Kikunojou called out his jutsu, the flowers surrounding him once again hardened and began spinning like shurikens.

In the Land of Greens, flower-based ninjutsu had been used for centuries and had been developed to provide a variety of useful abilities. The _Flower-shuriken_ jutsu was a flower shinobi's bread and butter and was always the first ninjutsu a young flower ninja was taught. The _Dance of a Thousand Petals_ was technically just a variation of this jutsu, as it also primarily involved turning flower blossoms into spinning shurikens. Regardless, this jutsu was considered A-rank by the shinobi of Greens Country, due to how incredibly difficult it was to master. Unlike the standard _Flower-shuriken_ jutsu, the _Dance of a Thousand Petals_ didn't send the shurikens flying forward toward one's enemies but instead caused them to revolve around the jutsu caster in a seemingly random pattern, creating a storm of blades surrounding the flower shinobi. It took years to use effectively, and decades to truly master the art of controlling the various flower shurikens while remaining in motion oneself. It was very much like dance to be able to move and fight while also maintaining the deadly jutsu. If one wasn't careful, the user could easily impale himself with his own shurikens. Typically, only the most senior of flower ninjas were even permitted to attempt the jutsu, much less use it in battle. Kikunojou, however, was considered a genius amongst his fellow flower-nins and had mastered the ability while still a teenager. As a true adept, he could even direct the flowers to cut more flowers up from the ground and add them to the jutsu, creating a practically self-sustaining vortex of blades.

This jutsu, Kikunojou judged, would be most useful for allowing him to take on so many opponents at once.

Leaping forward, Kikunojou engaged the first enemy he came across, sword clashing against sword in a deadly melee. His opponent was decent with a blade, but couldn't match Kikunojou's skill, and soon Kikunojou managed to deflect the man's sword away, leaving him open for a finishing strike. Before he could do so, however, Kikunojou was swiftly flanked by a pair of the man's cohorts, and he was forced to turn and defend himself rather than finish his current opponent. He was forced onto the defensive for a few seconds as the two double-teamed him, but fortunately, he was able to push back one of them, while the other was hit solidly by one of Kikunojou's flower-shurikens, and was forced to fall back, cursing loudly.

The fight went on like this for a while. Kikunojou was unable to make any headway as he was constantly under threat from five enemies at once, while his opponents were forced to contend with both Kikunojou's own attacks, as well as the shurikens that filled the air around him. Though outnumbered, Kikunojou did his best to press the attack, never letting any of his opponents get too far away from him and give them time to think. Kikunojou was unable to successfully strike a mortal blow on any of them, but nonetheless, the Janin's henchmen were taking steady damage from the wildly rotating shurikens.

Eventually, though, his opponents did begin to become accustomed to fighting within his technique. More and more they were able to deflect or avoid his flower shurikens and began pressing him even more heavily.

"His jutsu's not so tough!" one of the men called to the others as he dodged between the razor-edged flowers, "Everyone attack at once and take him down!"

Kikunojou smirked internally as he watched the man attempt to force his way through the flower jutsu. _That's right,_ he thought to himself, _just ignore the pretty flowers…_

As the enemy ninja attempted to dodge another pair of flowers on his way toward Kikunojou, the flower shinobi swiftly brought one of his hands up into a seal and sent out a directed burst of chakra that would activate the paper seals. Unbeknownst to his opponents, Kikunojou had several explosive tags mixed in with his jutsu, folded in the shape of origami flowers. Unfortunately for the man who had just spoken, he had just disregarded a pair of such tags. Just as he dodged past a pair of what he thought were flower shurikens, the flowers suddenly exploded, engulfing him in the resulting detonation. The man cried out briefly and then went down in a smoldering heap. Faced with yet another new threat, the remaining four rogue shinobi fell back hastily.

Given a bit of breathing room, Kikunojou took a moment to take stock of the situation on the surrounding battlefield. He saw that nearby, one member of the enemy group that was focused on the princess had also gone down, apparently having fallen to the traps they had laid. Currently, the remaining four were holding back, attempting to snipe the princess from range with kunai and shurikens, all of which were neatly deflected with kunais by Chouji and the others surrounding the princess. Kikunojou couldn't see Asuma and the two Janin at the moment, but he could still hear the sounds of combat coming from off to his left, that let him know that Asuma was still in the fight.

Things were going as they'd hoped. They had managed to survive the initial onslaught without being overwhelmed by the enemy's superior numbers and had now forced the enemy into a slow war of attrition.

 _Looks like the first phase is successful,_ Kikunojou thought as he prepared to engage his opponents again. _Now I just need to actually win this fight…_

* * *

From his seat within the personal chambers of the feudal lord in the capital of the Land of Greens, Renga watched his two brothers' battle with the Leaf Village jounin. Looking into a glass-like lens, Renga was able to watch the battle play out as though he was right there, even though he was still dozens of miles away.

His brothers both had their tricks, but he was the only one of the three to have a true bloodline limit. His ice jutsu was both incredibly powerful and amazingly versatile. Though he was essentially entirely self-taught in its use, he had nonetheless managed to mold his Ice-style into a number of incredibly useful abilities, both for combat and otherwise. One of his most useful non-combat jutsus was his _Ice Style: Extending-Eye_ _Jutsu._ By shaping his ice into a series of incredibly thin lenses, and then linking those lenses together into a snake-like chain, Renga was able to create an ever-expanding telescope that allowed him to observe events at great distances. He had used this jutsu frequently in the past few months to keep tabs on events happening all over the Land of Greens, watching gleefully as his plan for the coup d'etat fell into place piece by piece. What he was seeing through his jutsu now, though, pleased him far less than it had before.

On the face of it, the battle appeared to be going well. Jiga and Ruiga had their enemy on the run, constantly forcing him back through the combination of their powers. Though the other two fights weren't going especially well, this wasn't a serious problem. It didn't particularly matter how their subordinates faired, so long as his brothers were able to defeat the jounin, they would be able to roll up the rest of their opponents fairly easily.

Regardless, Renga was beginning to become seriously annoyed, and not just a little bit worried.

 _Those_ fools _still haven't noticed yet,_ he thought. With every passing moment, the princess was getting farther out of their reach, and their chances of successfully obtaining her were becoming slimmer and slimmer. If his brothers didn't get their act together soon, all his planning and work might yet come to naught. Still keeping an eye on the lens before him, Renga leaned over in his cushioned seat and rang a small bell that lay on the table next to him, summoning one of his subordinates. _It looks like I may have to take action after all…_

* * *

Swinging his sword as fast as he could, Kikunojou knocked another pair of kunai out of the air before him. Unfortunately, as he did so he felt a shuriken slicing across his back, cutting a gash from shoulder to shoulder. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Kikunojou kept moving, trying to maneuver into a position where he could again see all four of his opponents at once.

Like their comrades in the other part of the clearing, the four rogue shinobi facing Kikunojou had elected to fall back and engage him from a distance with kunai and shurikens, a move which proved to be wise as they started experiencing some success after their change in tactics. Having spread out and put some distance between them, the four were able to surround Kikunojou from four directions and hammer him from all sides. Though his _Dance of a Thousand Petals_ helped somewhat, Kikunojou was still unable to deflect the attacks coming from every direction and had begun to take some considerable damage as a result. The real trouble was that he was unable to even see all of his opponents. No matter how much he moved, at least one of them was constantly able to maneuver into his blind spot. Counter-attacking proved difficult too, as he was unable to focus on any one of them without exposing himself to attacks from the other three.

"Keep it up!" One of the remaining enemies called out to the others, "He can't take down all four of us!"

Grimly, Kikunojou realized that the enemy shinobi was right. _If this continues on much longer, they'll be able to wear me out and finish me._ Looking over at the other group, he saw that they were still holding their own against the enemy's ranged fire, even as their opponents slowly but surely found their way through the many traps that littered the area. Even though things were going okay for them at the moment, he knew that if his remaining opponents were able to join with their allies, his own comrades would be swiftly overwhelmed and wiped out, and he couldn't allow that to happen. _Looks like I've got no choice...It's a little earlier than we wanted, but I'll need to move things to the next phase._

Releasing his _Dance of a Thousand Petals_ jutsu and allowing the flower shurikens, now reduced to ordinary flowers once more, to flutter to the ground, Kikunojou turned to face the two opponents on his right and channelled his chakra into a new jutsu. " _Bloom: Flower Water Mirror!_ " As Kikunojou extended his left hand forward, a stream of petals appeared to burst forth from his palm and flow toward the two rogue shinobi. The petals themselves were, of course, illusionary, merely the byproduct of his jutsu. As he watched, the two enemies were surrounded by his petals, staggering slightly as they became engulfed within his genjutsu. The _Flower Water Mirror_ was a fairly basic genjutsu, simply trapping his opponents briefly within a world of silent darkness, rendering them temporarily deaf and blind to all that was going on around them. The illusion wouldn't take them very long to break out of, so he needed to work fast.

Rather than finishing off the two incapacitated ninjas, however, Kikunojou instead turned to face the other two opponents, deflecting a few more kunai and shurikens as he did so. Though he had gained a temporary respite from half of his opponents, he knew that he still couldn't move in to finish them without taking attacks from the remaining pair. If he was going to win this, it would have to be all at once. His hands making seals, Kikunojou poured a tremendous amount of chakra into his next jutsu, using up much of what remained of his chakra reserves in a single technique, " _Bloom: Riot of Flowers jutsu!_ "

As Kikunojou's jutsu activated, several flowers in the surrounding area began to catch flame. The final, most devastating technique of the Land of Green's Flower-ninja-art, the _Riot of Flowers_ jutsu was a technique that transmuted the pollen within flowers into an explosive powder, turning any field of flowers into an enormous powder keg. As Kikunojou watched, several trails of flame spread through the field of flowers, moving concentrically inward toward the two hostile shinobi. As the fire trails met in the middle they erupted into a huge explosion that tore apart the ground and turned the field of flowers into ash.

Unfortunately, the two Janin henchmen were not caught in the explosion as they leaped safely out of the way. The _Riot of Flowers_ was a slow but powerful jutsu, best used as a finishing strike against opponents who were slowed or otherwise incapacitated. Kikunojou typically used it only after hitting his opponents with the _Flower Water Mirror_ to hold them in place while the jutsu moved in. In this case, the two unhindered shinobi had had plenty of time to move out of the way as the fires moved toward them. What's more, the two had jumped right over to their two entrapped associates, placing their hands on them and giving them a burst of chakra to free them from Kikunojou's genjutsu. Kikunojou now found himself facing all four of his opponents once more.

He smiled, savagely. Things had gone just as he'd hoped. He was once again facing four combat-capable enemies, but he was no longer surrounded. Even better, all four were now grouped up, standing in one of the few remaining patches of wildflowers. Kikunojou's chakra was almost spent, but even so, he summoned up the last of his chakra reserves for one final technique. He made just a couple of seals and then slammed his hand to the ground, " _Bloom: Grasping Thorns jutsu!_ "

As his enemies were busy trying to collect themselves and regroup, Kikunojou's jutsu caused the flowers on the ground around them to suddenly spring into motion. Stems extending up from the ground, the flowers wrapped themselves around the ankles and legs of the four criminal ninjas, holding them in place even as they struggled to free themselves. Their efforts were in vain; as long as Kikunojou sustained the jutsu the flower stems would be as hard as steel wire, and the hooked thorns that the jutsu caused to grow from the stems would make them incredibly painful and damaging to yank out. This, of course, meant that Kikunojou was immobilized as well, as he had to keep a steady flow of chakra flowing through his hand into the ground in order to sustain the jutsu.

Kikunojou felt a wave of exhaustion pass through him. His hands trembled, one of the earliest signs of chakra exhaustion. It was all he could do just to maintain the jutsu for now...but that was fine. He smirked. _I never intended to defeat you all by myself._

Speaking up suddenly, Kikunojou's voice carried across the battlefield, "Chouji-san...now!"

"On it!" Suddenly breaking formation, Chouji separated from the others on his side of the battlefield and dashed towards Kikunojou. Chouji knew the exact location of all the traps in the surrounding area, having placed most of them himself, and was thus able to break from the engagement before the Janin's henchmen were properly able to respond.

As Chouji ran, his hands came together in a single, unique seal, " _Body Expansion jutsu!_ " All at once, Chouji's torso expanded tremendously, taking on a spherical shape until his body resembled nothing more than a massive ball with comically tiny arms, legs, and head sticking out. Just as quickly, though, said arms, legs, and head seemed to retract within his enlarged torso, replaced by jets of chakra that burst forth. The jets of chakra propelled his body in a circle, causing the human ball to begin rolling. "Take this! _Human Boulder_!"

With a crashing sound almost like a landslide, Chouji's signature jutsu left a gouge in the earth as it passed, accelerating him straight toward the four entrapped shinobi. What had mere moments ago seemed almost comical swiftly became terrifying, as the enemy ninjas realized the immense weight and power of the jutsu that was currently bearing down on them. They redoubled their efforts to escape, but to no avail, as Kikunojou steadfastly held them in place. The four barely had time to cry out as the _Human Boulder_ crashed into them. Kikunojou relaxed as he felt his jutsu release on its own. The flowers he had been using his jutsu on had been destroyed, along with everything else in the Akimichi jutsu's path. In a single move, they had managed to wipe out half of the remaining enemies in their area.

Of course, though they had succeeded in taking out an entire group of enemies, there was still a price to be paid for their bold strategy. As soon as Chouji had broken formation with the rest of his group, the remaining enemies targeting Haruna, seeing an opening, had redoubled their attack. Now left with three to guard the princess, Naruto, Hinata, and Yurinojou did their best to block the incoming projectiles, but soon found themselves being overwhelmed. A mere moment after Chouji's jutsu had devastated the other group of rogue ninjas, one stray kunai managed to find its way through their defences. Sailing past Naruto's desperate attempt to deflect it, the deadly weapon flew into the midst of the group and struck Haruna right in the chest.

The princess stood frozen for an instant, looking shocked…

...before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Naruto winced in pain as another batch of memories flooded into his consciousness. His long-term clones had been dispelling one after another all night, and the effects were beginning to make themselves felt. Already a sharp pain was building up behind his eyes, along with a dull throbbing beneath his temples. In addition to this he felt a strange sort of exhaustion beginning to take hold, not physical tiredness, but a vague, indescribable weariness that made him want to lay his head down and not do anything.

 _This must be...the mental feedback Asuma-sensei warned me about,_ he thought while massaging his temples to try to ease the pain slightly. _Ah...this really is annoying._

Nevertheless, Naruto pushed the pain aside for a moment and spoke up, addressing the others with him, "Everyone, the decoy princess-clone was just destroyed."

The others all turned to look at him. Hinata and Yurinojou both nodded in confirmation while Haruna scowled fretfully. "If the decoy has been destroyed already...then that means they'll be on our trail soon enough," the princess said anxiously.

"Not necessarily, Haruna-sama," Yurinojou replied, trying to placate the erstwhile royal. "They may have now realized that the princess they were targeting was a fake, but they still do not know exactly where we are. Even if they started looking immediately, it will take them some time to track us down. Not to mention they still have to contend with Asuma-san and the others. I'm certain that they won't be able to disengage with their full force, which gives us even more of an advantage."

At present, the three shinobi and one civilian were travelling through the forest, roughly parallel to but not on the main Eastbound road. They had been moving for nearly an hour now and were several miles away from their apparent campsite. This had been Asuma's plan all along. The "campsite" was set up to hold off the Janin and their men for as long as possible, making them believe that the Leaf shinobi and their allies were attempting to make their stand in a defensive position. However, unbeknownst to their enemies, the small sub-group of Naruto, Hinata, Yurinojou and Haruna had actually left the site almost as soon as the location had been chosen, leaving behind a quartet of Naruto-clones disguised using the transformation jutsu. During the intervening time, the group had been moving steadily Eastward, toward the border.

In spite of her guardian shinobi's assurances, Haruna still appeared unconvinced. "In that case they'll just focus on wiping the others out, and then come after us with their full strength," she said, pessimistically.

Now it was Naruto's turn to scowl. "Oi...don't say that!" he snapped, "Asuma-sensei's super strong, he won't lose! What's more, you should have a little more faith in Kikunojou-san. He's risking everything to protect you, you know."

Haruna drew herself up haughtily, "As he should! It's his duty. In any case, I have plenty of faith in Kikunojou's ability. I'm just disappointed that I was forced to forgo his protection and I was only able to replace him with a couple of children."

Before Naruto could bite off an angry retort, Hinata spoke up softly from next to him, "I...I sure hope Chouji-kun is okay…"

Turning away from the infuriating noblewoman, Naruto addressed his teammate, "Don't worry, Hinata...Chouji's pretty strong too. Besides, he's with Kikunojou and Asuma-sensei. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Internally though, Naruto was worried about his other teammate as well. It had been galling for Naruto when Asuma-sensei had informed them that Chouji would stay behind to face the enemy, while Naruto was part of the group whose job it was to run away. Nevertheless, he knew better than to object to Sensei's orders...at least at this point in time. Chouji had paled slightly on being given his orders but had nonetheless assented to Asuma's instructions. From the memories he gained from the shadow clone, Naruto knew that Chouji had successfully launched his attack, and acquitted himself well in the fight so far. Even so, he would still be facing the remainder of the enemy with only Kikunojou, Asuma-sensei, and a handful of his clones as backup.

It was only a moment later, however, that Naruto received a new batch of memories from one of his clones, and he realized that his concerns belonged elsewhere…

* * *

Though he was still engaged with the Leaf Village jounin, from where he was on the battlefield, Jiga could still see the fights happening in the other areas. As such, he was able to see the instant the "princess" disintegrated into smoke, disappearing as though she had never been there, which Jiga rapidly began to suspect was actually the case. He gritted his teeth in irritation. _Damn it, we've been had!_

"Oi, Ruiga!" he called to his younger brother, "That princess was a decoy! The target's not here."

"She what!?" Ruiga exclaimed before turning to Asuma with a snarl, "Bastard, you tricked us! Where did you hide that bitch of a princess?"

Asuma simply shrugged and replied mildly, "Don't look at me. I never actually said the princess was here, did I? You guys just assumed that. And you don't honestly think I'm going to answer that, do you?"

Teeth grinding in impotent rage, Ruiga did a quick scan of the battlefield. Eventually, his gaze settled on Chouji and Kikunojou. The considerate young genin had moved over and was now supporting the Greens Country shinobi, who appeared to be on his last legs. Ruiga smirked evilly, "Fine then! In that case, we'll just finish you off, and then drag the information out of your student, piece by piece!" Turning to his brother, Ruiga shouted, "Come on Jiga, let's finish this and then go after the princess together!"

As Ruiga made threats against Chouji, Asuma's eyes narrowed. Though the battle had been progressing favourably thus far, the current situation was still quite dire for the three who had stayed behind, especially now that the enemy was no longer distracted by the decoy. From what he could see on the other part of the battlefield, the four rogue shinobi who had been targeting Naruto's clone disguised as Haruna had now ceased their efforts and had pulled back slightly, possibly waiting for orders from the Janin as to what to do now. If those four were to turn their attention to Chouji and Kikunojou, things would get very bad. Kikunojou didn't look like he would be able to fight much more for the time being, and Chouji wouldn't last long fighting alone against four, especially while trying to protect Kikunojou.

 _This isn't good. I need to finish this fast…_ he thought to himself. It looked like he had no choice, he was going to have to use _that_ jutsu. He had been hoping not to have to use it too early, given its massive chakra cost and the fact that he hadn't fully mastered it yet, but the situation afforded him few options. He was the only one left who could take on all of the remaining opponents. With that in mind, he began gathering chakra for one of his most powerful jutsus.

For his part, Jiga was torn. On the one hand, he very much wanted to make the Leaf villagers pay for their deception as well. However, far more importantly, he now realized that they were operating on a time limit, and time was no longer in their favor. They had no way of knowing how long ago the princess had left the camp, nor exactly where she was, though it was a safe bet that she was headed straight for the border. If the princess succeeded in crossing the border into another country, things would get very sticky for them very fast. Any attempt to cross the border with their men could be taken as a hostile invasion, and while the Land of Greens itself was weak, the nations surrounding it weren't quite so soft. Given that they were still trying to establish their power base in this country, they couldn't afford that kind of attention right now. _Damn it...we need to find a way to go after them_ now _!_

It was at this moment that Jiga spotted a familiar writhing, crystalline form. A 'creature' made out of ice...which on closer inspection was revealed to be a series of ice mirrors and lenses interconnected into a chain such that it resembled an insanely long snake...was currently poking its head out of the forest two dozen or so meters away from where the Janin and the Leaf Village jounin were currently having their battle. _That's...Renga's Extending Eye_ _jutsu,_ Jiga thought upon spotting the serpentine ice construct. At the moment the snake-like object was several meters away, writhing back and forth, seemingly trying to get his attention. _Don't tell me...Renga's already found them!_ Jiga smirked. No doubt he would end up owing his elder brother for this, but he would worry about that later. For now, there was no time to lose.

"Oi, Ruiga! I'm going ahead after the princess! You deal with things here," he called to his younger sibling, before shouting at their remaining henchmen, "You four, with me!"

"What!?" the youngest Janin sputtered angrily as his brother leaped away, taking the last of their underlings with him. "Bastard! You can't just leave me here!"

Meanwhile, Asuma watched with confusion that rapidly transformed into extreme worry. He had, by now, also noticed the strange serpentine creature that Jiga had seen. The snake-like construct appeared to be made out of some kind of crystal ( _or maybe ice?_ ) and was now disappearing into the brush as Jiga and the others made to follow after it. More important though, was how Jiga's attitude had changed as soon as he had seen it. He went from readying himself for the final confrontation to suddenly disengaging altogether and stating an intention to pursue the princess...as though he already knew where she was.

 _If that thing can lead them to Haruna and the others...then I can't let them get away!_

Dropping the jutsu that he had been preparing, Asuma made to follow after Jiga. "I'm afraid I agree with Ruiga on this one," he shouted at the fleeing Janin, "You're not going anywhere!"

Unfortunately, Asuma didn't make it far before he was intercepted by a huge sphere of water, the largest one he had yet seen. Floating within the large pool was a massive, shadowy shape that slowly resolved itself into yet another aquatic summon animal. Asuma found himself staring into the maw of an enormous great white shark.

 _I was not expecting today._ Asuma thought sardonically as he grudgingly turned to face Ruiga once more. "You sure about that, Ruiga? This didn't go so well for you last time."

Ruiga ground his teeth, but stood his ground, regardless. "Screw you," he snapped. Furious with his older brother as he was, Ruiga also recognized the significance of Jiga's actions. Everything would be for nothing if they didn't recover the princess. Though he knew himself to be outmatched, Ruiga also knew that he only had to hold Asuma off for a few minutes. Just buy enough time for Jiga to deal with the princess, and they would be successful. "You won't beat me this time."

Unfortunately for Asuma, Ruiga's jutsu, with its wide area of control, was the sort of jutsu that was difficult to shake off. Now that Asuma had missed his chance to stop Jiga from leaving the clearing, Ruiga could simply slow Asuma down and prevent him from catching up to Jiga before he reached the other group. Loathe as he was to leave them on their own for the time being, Asuma knew that he'd be doing the others few favors by bringing both of the Janin down on top of them. _I've got no choice,_ he thought, _I'll just have to finish this as fast as I can and then go after them._

* * *

From their position in the middle of the clearing, Chouji and Kikunojou watched as the battlefield went from crowded to nearly empty in a very short period of time. After their successful attack on one group of enemies, and the withdrawal of the other along with Jiga, the only enemy remaining in the area was Ruiga, who was still locked in combat with Asuma. Thus the Leaf and Flower ninjas found themselves alone in the blasted out clearing but for a trio of Naruto clones, two of whom were still disguised as Hinata and Yurinojou, respectively.

Looking back and forth between Asuma's ongoing battle and the direction that Jiga had fled in, Chouji spoke up worriedly, "What...what should we do now, Kikunojou-san?"

Turning and looking down, Kikunojou regarded the young Leaf shinobi on whose shoulder he was leaning. The first thing Chouji had done after completing his jutsu had been to run over to Kikunojou and help him stay standing. He was truly a compassionate young man, and his concern for his teammates shone through in his expression.

"We're out of the fight, for now," he answered the genin honestly. "The first thing we should do is let the others know what's coming."

Blinking, Chouji's eyes lit up quickly with comprehension. "Oh, right!" Turning to the three remaining shadow clones, Chouji shouted to get their attention, "Hey, Naruto! One of you hurry and dispel yourself!"

Turning to face them in response, the female-disguised clone gave a most un-Hinata-like thumbs-up and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Looking up at Kikunojou, Chouji asked, "Is that really all we can do?"

Grunting slightly with the effort, Kikunojou moved to shift his weight off of Chouji and sat down, turning himself so he could keep a wary eye on the running battle in the distance. "I need to rest a minute and recover some chakra. As soon as I'm able to move again, we'll go after them, whether Asuma-san is finished with his battle or not."

Internally, Kikunojou was as frustrated with the situation as Chouji was. He hated not being able to move off immediately to backup Yurinojou and the others, but he also knew that in his present condition he would be little help to them. Worse, without enough chakra to at least put up a decent fight, he would more likely add to their problems. Chouji was still at full strength, but Kikunojou didn't think sending off a genin alone in pursuit of five more experienced ninjas to be a good idea. For the time being, he would just have to put his faith in Yurinojou, Hinata, and Naruto to keep the princess safe. Yurinojou was the man he trusted more than any other, and even though he had only known them for a day, he believed that Hinata and Naruto had the strength within them to pull through.

 _Besides that,_ he thought, _if the worst should happen, Yurinojou still has_ that _with him._ Secreted on Yurinojou's person, he knew, was a certain special item, their last contingency in case of a disaster. The final gift given to them by the slug princess, so long ago.

An idea coming to him, Chouji brightened a bit, recalling the many snacks he had secreted in his pack, including some Akimichi Clan Special Jerky. "You need to recover some chakra? Hang on a second, I've got something for that!" Turning to face the far end of the clearing where his pack and other supplies were stashed, Chouji moved to retrieve it and the food hidden within to help Kikunojou recover as quickly as possible.

Watching the young genin move away, Kikunojou spoke up with concern, "Ah, be careful Chouji-san, that's…"

As Chouji was turning to ask Kikunojou what was the matter, he suddenly stumbled. Looking down, he noticed that he had staggered into a shallow ditch. After a second he realized that this was the rivet in the earth that had been carved by the passing of his _Human Boulder_ _Jutsu_ just a short time before. He hadn't noticed it as he had been running toward his pack in the distance. This wasn't too unusual, he had practiced this jutsu many times back at home and had witnessed this effect before. He really should have noticed it before falling into it, but he put that down to nerves from being involved in his first ever battle. What captured his attention now, however, was the sensation of wetness touching his feet. Looking down at them, Chouji saw that he was currently standing in a shallow pool. It wasn't deep enough to even come past the soles of his shinobi sandals, however, some of the stuff had splashed onto his exposed toes when he had stumbled in. Strangely, the liquid looked too dark to be water. In the pale moonlight, it was almost black. It appeared to be streaming from a source further up the ditch…

"Chouji-san…" Kikunojou called from nearby, his voice now containing worry.

Turning to look to his right, Chouji came face to face with the corpses of the four men he had just killed.

* * *

Following after his brother's jutsu, Jiga and his four subordinates ran at top speed through the forest of the Land of Greens. Ahead of them, Renga's _Extending-Eye Jutsu_ advanced at an astonishing rate, slithering over rocks and around trees almost like a real snake. In reality, Jiga knew that the snake-like construct wasn't actually "moving", rather, the chain of ice connecting it all the way back to Renga was growing longer. Jiga grudgingly had to admit that his brother's jutsu was undeniably incredible.

Of course, any goodwill he may have had for his brother at that moment vanished an instant later, when the _Extending-Eye Jutsu_ suddenly disintegrated right before their eyes, turning into water and then evaporating into vapor in less than a second.

 _Dammit, Renga! What the hell!?_

"Jiga-sama!" One of his subordinates spoke up from behind him, "What should we do now?"

Jiga's mind churned quickly. The one weakness he knew of for the _Extending-Eye Jutsu_ was that Renga was unable to maintain it while moving. _If Renga's on the move that means...he's on his way here._ Jiga grit his teeth. _I need to finish this before he catches up._

Speaking aloud to his four underlings, Jiga announced, "My brother wouldn't have canceled his jutsu unless we were close. The princess must be somewhere nearby. You four spread out and canvass the area. They'll be trying to escape to the East. If you encounter the princess send up an explosive tag as a signal flare. Remember that the enemy is using fakes to throw us off, so make sure it's her before you signal the rest of us."

"Sir!" The four responded promptly, spreading out to continue combing the area in a generally Eastward direction.

As his henchmen split up, Jiga continued running along the same path they had already been following. This current path was the fastest way out of Greens Country. If the enemy was anywhere they'd be here. Still, it was best that he covered all his bases.

As Jiga ran, he suddenly spotted a thin black line running across his path just ahead. A tripwire, crudely setup and barely concealed just above the ground. The trap was so poorly set up, it was almost as though it was meant to be found. Jiga smirked. _That tripwire's not connected to anything. It's a fake trap, which means…_ Jiga casually jumped over the shinobi wire that stretched across the path, and as he did so a half-dozen blond, orange-clad shinobi leapt out at him from all sides, kunai drawn and poised to strike.

"Too easy!" Jiga shouted, flinging out the flail end of his kusarigama in a vicious circle. The clones were destroyed instantly and the original was forced to fall back out of the way.

Jiga looked over his opponent, a short, blond-haired boy in a ridiculous orange jumpsuit. He had seen the boy back at the clearing, amongst the group standing guard over the princess, but hadn't paid the boy any mind as he had been focussed on the jonin. Still, the fact that there had been six of the boy just now allowed one of the missing pieces to click into place in Jiga's mind.

"I see…" Jiga mused aloud, "So you're the source of the clones, are you? Good, I owe you for tricking us earlier with that fake princess."

Landing a few meters away, the orange boy taunted, "Oh? You mad about that?"

Smiling jovially, Jiga replied, his voice not matching his expression, "Livid, actually. I'd like to hurry and find the princess as soon as possible...but seeing as you're here now, I think I can afford to take a bit of time to teach you a lesson in the realities of the shinobi world. It won't take more than a minute for me to show you what happens to little punks like you who try to punch above their weight. Unless, of course, you tell me where I can find the princess now." His smile twisted into a nasty smirk, "What do you say? Tell me what I want to know, and I'll consider letting you off easy."

Naruto snarled back at the Janin, "We're not telling you anything!"

Jiga smirked internally. ' _We', huh?_ Shrugging, he began spinning his kusarigama again, "Fair enough. If you prefer to die, then…!"

Whipping his arm forward, Jiga sent out his ball and chain once again. The spiked metal ball moved at such an incredible speed Naruto was barely able to avoid it, dodge-rolling out of the way at the last second. The metal ball soared past him and impacted with a tree a few feet behind him. So great was the force behind the attack, the metal ball smashed straight through the tree, shattering the trunk instantly and causing it to topple to the ground with a resounding crash.

Rolling across the ground and springing back to his feet, Naruto instantly put his hands together into a ram seal and created a new batch of clones. Instantly upon bursting into existence the shadow clones all charged toward the Janin together, drawing their kunai knives and attempting to stab and slash the criminal ninja. Though outnumbered, Jiga was far faster and stronger than Naruto, and he held the clones off easily, destroying a few more in the process, and forcing the rest to disengage.

"Come on, kid. Don't make this so hard on yourself. You're just drawing out the inevitable."

Gritting his teeth, Naruto remained undaunted. "I'm not finished yet! Try this one!" As one, Naruto and his remaining clones flung their kunai knives at the Janin all together, forcing him to deal with incoming knives from all directions.

Jiga couldn't help but chuckle as he activated his magnet jutsu. As the clones had been attacking him earlier he had made sure to tag each of their weapons with his power, and now he took pleasure in the dumbfounded expressions that appeared on the faces of the orange-clad genin and his clones as nearly all of their weapons changed trajectory in mid-air and became attached to his kusarigama. The only kunai he really had to pay attention to was the one thrown by the original which he managed to catch easily enough with his kusarigama anyway.

The first part of the enemy's attack dealt with, Jiga then turned to deal with the second. It hadn't escaped his notice during the earlier melee that one of the orange boy's clones had been attempting to maneuver into his blind spot while the others attacked. Spinning around, he caught said clone as it attempted to strike him in the back with a palm thrust, catching it off guard and knocking it away with a vicious backhand to the face, which sent it flying. As the clone tumbled along the ground and eventually came to a stop, it burst into smoke. This time, though, the copy did not disappear, instead, the smoke cleared to reveal a young girl, roughly the same age as the other genin with dark hair and white eyes.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted, looking on with concern as his teammate slowly pulled herself up off the ground. "Are you alright?"

"I'm...I'm fine, Naruto-kun," Hinata said slowly as she forced herself to stand up straight. The blow to the head had rattled her, and the numbness on the left side of her face told her that she would likely have a nasty bruise soon enough, but nevertheless, she steadied herself on her feet as best she could and prepared to continue fighting. Naruto was still fighting, after all, and she refused to let him face this enemy on his own.

Jiga chuckled as he turned to regard his new opponent, "Heh, I figured as much. There were actually two of you here all along. You used the transformation jutsu and hid a second person amongst all the shadow-clones to try to get the drop on me, a reversal of your earlier strategy back at the clearing, where you used transformed clones to disguise your true numbers. Not a bad plan, honestly." Turning back to look at Naruto, he smirked, "Or at least it would have been...if the orange idiot hadn't referred to himself as 'we' earlier."

Naruto cringed as he belatedly realized his earlier mistake. Asuma-sensei's voice echoed faintly in the back of Naruto's mind: _You're not thinking enough!_

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Naruto forced himself to calm down and think things through. Taking a step back, he took stock of the situation. Regrettably, their opening gambits had all completely failed. They had placed a fake trap in the road in order to get the enemy to jump over it, hoping to catch him while in mid-air when he would be unable to dodge. Unfortunately, not only had the enemy apparently anticipated this, but his weapon proved to be ideal for fending off such an attack. Their further strategy of hiding Hinata in with his clones in the hope of getting a surprise Gentle Fist strike had also been sussed out by the enemy, due in no small part to Naruto's big mouth.

Mentally, Naruto berated himself further. It was bad enough that he had made another crucial blunder, but this time Hinata had also gotten hurt as a result. He had to be better, he couldn't afford to keep making stupid mistakes.

Asuma-sensei's earlier advice came back to him once again: _It's not enough to just react on instinct. What are the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your opponent? How can you create an advantage for yourself? You have to think about these things, and create a plan._

Warily watching the hefty Janin, Naruto tried to take his measure. It was already clear that this opponent was far stronger than the two they had faced earlier in the day. He obviously held the ranged advantage, his kusarigama was both fast and horrendously powerful. From the way it had smashed through that tree earlier, Naruto didn't even want to know what would happen if he or Hinata were hit directly by the large metal ball at the end of the chain. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Janin's magnet jutsu essentially negated all ranged attacks directed at himself, at least those made utilizing metal weapons, anyway. That said, the man was hardly at a disadvantage up close, either. He was large and physically powerful. Naruto could tell from when his clones had attacked the man in melee earlier that overpowering him would likely not be possible.

Worse still, Naruto was far from peak condition, himself. The growing pain in his head, courtesy of his shadow-clones' mental feedback, had now solidified into a full-blown migraine. He wasn't willing to use this as an excuse for his earlier slip-up, but even so, the pain had proved a constant distraction, something he could ill afford in the present situation. Even now it threatened to ruin his concentration as he tried to think of a plan. He was fairly certain that the clones he was making to fight weren't contributing to the problem, but nonetheless, a paranoid part of his mind wondered if he was at risk of putting himself into a coma.

Shaking off such thoughts, Naruto refocussed on the enemy. His own issues aside, they still had one advantage in this fight: the enemy was all alone, they outnumbered him, and Naruto had shadow-clones. _There's really only one option here,_ Naruto decided, _we've got to overwhelm him with pure numbers!_

For her part, Hinata was thinking along similar lines. Like Naruto, she was also carefully looking over their opponent, trying to come up with the best plan possible. As she observed the Janin with her byakugan, she began to notice something strange. Within the man's body were hundreds of tiny, dark foreign objects. They were too small for her to discern what they were, indeed if they had been any smaller her weak byakugan may not have been able to see them at all. They were scattered all throughout his body, within his organs and even moving through the bloodstream. She may not have been able to tell what they were exactly, but she knew enough about the body to know that they didn't naturally belong there.

Before Hinata could think any more about the Janin's abnormal body, she was forced to come back to the present as she spotted one of the Narutos in the area forming a ram seal with his hands.

" _Shadow-clone Jutsu_!" Naruto shouted as he summoned yet another batch of clones to supplement the ones he already had out. Turning to his teammate, he called to her, "Hinata, back up! Let me deal with this guy!"

"What!?" Hinata stammered out in shock, surprised to hear Naruto telling her not to fight. "But, I…"

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said, smiling at her. "My shadow-clones are the only ones who can safely fight him. Remember what Asuma-sensei said? 'Don't risk anything if you don't have to.'"

Hinata blinked in confusion. _That's not what Asuma-sensei told me...that's not what he said at all! If anything it was the opposite. He said, 'If you risk nothing, you'll lose everything.'_ Hinata's eyes widened as comprehension dawned on her. Looking across the clearing at her teammate, their gazes met, his deep-blue eyes burning into her clear white ones. Naruto's expression shone with absolute trust and confidence. The message was as clear as if Naruto had said it to her out loud.

 _I'll create an opening for you, so be ready!_

Nodding back at Naruto, Hinata took several steps backward and replied, "Alright, I understand."

Jiga snorted, "'Don't risk anything if you don't have to,' huh? That's good advice actually! I never take any unnecessary risks, myself. Of course, if you and your sensei were really smart, neither one of you would have ever picked a fight with me in the first place!"

Naruto snarled, "I'll show _you_ how risky it is to try to take on a future Hokage!" Addressing his shadow-clones, he shouted, " _Attack!_ "

As one, the collected Naruto clones roared and charged at Jiga. Sneering contemptuously, Jiga once more set about eliminating the mass of clones, lashing out with both ends of his kusarigama, causing one clone after another to disappear in bursts of smoke. The clones, now attacking with fists instead of kunai, weren't even able to land a single hit on the Janin as they vanished one after the other. As more and more of his clones were destroyed, Naruto put his hands together in a ram seal again and again, creating new batches of clones to send against the enemy.

After a while of this, Jiga decided he'd humored the boy long enough. It was time for him to wrap things up. Leaping away from the clones, the Janin began swinging the flail above his head once more. "Your clones are impressive, I'll give you that," he called to the Leaf Village genin. "But there's one problem in how you use them…"

Whipping his arm forward, Jiga sent the ball and chain soaring forward once more. Snaking its way between all the clones, the chain wrapped itself around the one Naruto who stayed back from the melee. Caught off guard, Naruto was unable to react as the Janin yanked back hard on the chain, pulling him clear off his feet and sending him flying straight toward the enemy. With his arms pinned at his sides by the chain, Naruto couldn't make any moves at all as he soared through the air towards the waiting Janin.

Jiga smirked as he prepared his kusarigama's scythe blade. "If one of you is always hanging back, it's only too obvious who the real one is!" As the little brat came into range, Jiga lashed out with his sickle, burying the blade straight into the leaf boy's skull…only to be thrown off balance as the enemy disintegrated into smoke.

Before Jiga could react, a small fist attached to an orange-sleeved arm came flying through the smoke of the disintegrating shadow-clone. "You think I'm scared to attack you myself!?" Naruto roared as he clocked the Janin square in the jaw, sending the man staggering back. "Don't underestimate me!"

As Jiga caught himself mid-stumble, he did the only thing he could at the moment, lashing out with his fist, managing to make contact with the Leaf genin's headband, and shoving him away. Unfortunately no sooner had he pushed the real one away then the boy's remaining shadow-clones closed in, pummeling him with their fists from all directions. These attacks, by themselves, wouldn't have mattered much, if not for what came along with them. From behind, he felt several light blows landing on his back. These strikes felt like little more than pats on the back against his big frame, and would have been almost laughably weak...except that everywhere on his body that the strikes landed seemed to explode with pain an instant later. It was almost as if the attacks were bypassing the surface and attacking him internally. Managing to glance over his shoulder for a moment, he saw the girl who had stepped back before, her hands glowing with chakra as she drove them into his back again and again.

Roaring with wounded fury, Jiga whipped the chain around and slammed the large metal ball of his kusarigama into the ground directly in front of him. The blow threw up clouds of dust and rock and caused the shadow-clones around him to stumble. Bringing his scythe blade around, Jiga sliced through the surrounding clones in a single wide swipe, eliminating them all, and turned to deal with the attacker behind him. By the time he had turned around, though, he saw the small kunoichi already jumping back, putting herself out of range of his counter-attack.

"Ha! Nice one, Hinata!" Naruto, having landed on his feet, called to his teammate. "We've got this guy on the ropes now!"

"N...Naruto-kun," Hinata, in spite of herself, managed a small smile back at her teammate.

Gritting his teeth against the flaring pain in his back, Jiga steadied himself on his feet and prepared himself for the next exchange. "I...am going to make you both _hurt_ for that," he growled at the two genins.

"Not likely!" Naruto retorted, "We're only just getting started!"

His eyes glinting, Jiga sneered, "Actually, you're finished!" Once again taking up his kusarigama, Jiga swung the ball and chain straight at Naruto's head.

By now, Naruto had become accustomed to the speed of his enemy's attacks and easily dodged the straightforward attack by simply bending back and allowing the metal ball to fly right over him. Unfortunately, that was when something unexpected happened. The ball and chain continued flying past Naruto for a few feet, before suddenly twisting around in midair and flying straight towards Naruto's face. Naruto had an instant of panicked realization... _That guy touched my headband when I attacked him earlier!..._ before the metal sphere struck Naruto right in the forehead, attaching itself to his forehead protector. Fortunately, the blow to the head wasn't too strong and was mostly blocked by the metal plate on his headband. Unfortunately, this time when Jiga pulled back on the chain, Naruto was sent flying through the air for real.

Jiga laughed contemptuously as he swung the leaf genin in the air above his head, "Ha ha ha! Have me on the ropes do you!?"

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata, witnessing her teammate's plight, charged toward the Janin, her hands once more aglow with chakra as she prepared another Gentle Fist strike.

Chuckling, Jiga simply swung his weapon at the charging genin. Hinata, seeing the attack coming with her byakugan, managed to dodge back in time to avoid the metal sphere, but not in time to completely avoid the Naruto hanging off the end of it. The ends of Naruto's feet made contact with Hinata's side, knocking the wind out of her and sending her rolling back.

"Hinata!" Naruto called in panic as he saw his teammate get knocked away. If the pain in his feet from the blow were anything to go by, he imagined that Hinata must have been hurt far worse. Still flying through the air at the end of Jiga's chain, Naruto reached up to the back of his head and tried to untie his headband. Unfortunately, the knot was tied far too tightly, and Naruto couldn't even get the thing to budge. The Leaf Village forehead protector he wore had been given to him by Iruka-sensei that night several months ago when he had fought Mizuki-sensei and become a genin. It was one of his most treasured possessions and as such he always made sure to tie it extra securely to his head, a fact which came back to bite him now, as the Janin swung him through the air.

"I guess I won't be learning about the risks of facing a future Hokage today, will I?" Jiga taunted as he spun Naruto around again. Before Naruto could respond or take any other action, Jiga swung Naruto straight into the trunk of a nearby tree. So strong was the Janin's swing, that the tree trunk shattered as Naruto smashed through it, sending yet another tree crashing to the ground.

Unfortunately, the tree wasn't the only thing that broke. Naruto screamed in pain as he felt his shoulder joint being wrenched harshly out of its socket. He was also fairly certain that his collarbone had been broken by the impact. To make matters worse, a moment later the Janin finally released his jutsu's hold on Naruto, sending the boy flying through the air to crash into yet another tree. Naruto felt several more bones breaking in both his arm and ribs as he impacted solidly into the side of the tree.

At long last, Naruto fell the rest of the way to the ground, his injured body crying out in protest as he landed in the dirt. He lay there for several seconds, unable to move, gritting his teeth against the pain, before slowly trying to rise. Eventually, he was able to push himself up a small way using his left hand (his entire right arm refused to listen to his commands at all, and likely would have been useless even if it had).

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out in panic, having witnessed what had happened to her teammate after recovering herself from the Janin's earlier attack.

Naruto finally managed to push himself into a kneeling position. His whole body felt like it hurt, to the point of being nearly overwhelming. His thoughts were slow and muddled, and his vision was clouded with pain. Nevertheless, he managed to focus his sight on his teammate standing several meters away, looking like she was about to rush over to him. "Hinata…" he managed to rasp out, "Get...out of here. Quickly...run…" Naruto was under no illusions about the situation, now. There was no way he would be able to continue fighting at this point, meaning that Hinata would be left to fight the mostly full-strength Janin alone, likely while still protecting him. Their chances of defeating the more powerful ninja, if they had ever existed, had now dropped to zero. At the very least, he hoped that Hinata would be able to escape alive.

From nearby, Jiga snorted with amusement. "That's probably the first good idea you've had all day, boy," he said, walking slowly forward while appearing to brush something off from his torso. "Unfortunately for you, I don't intend on letting either of you escape from here. So why don't you go ahead and stay still over there for a while?" Bringing his hands up, the Janin made a couple of hand seals, before pointing his fist at Naruto. When the man opened his hand, a cloud of black particles burst forth, flowing straight toward Naruto. " _Magnetic Ninja Art: Electromagnetic Illusion!_ "

The injured genin was completely unable to dodge as the cloud surrounded him, and in the end could only bring his left arm up in front of him in a desperate defense, little good though it did. A crackling noise was heard, as sparks of electricity arced through the air around him. To Naruto's eyes, the black particles appeared to be glowing, the light from them growing brighter and brighter, filling his vision until with a sudden flash everything went white.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called to her teammate. Naruto appeared to be frozen, his formerly tense body had gone slack, seemingly immobile. His facial expression was blank and listless, his pupils dilated, his eyes staring emptily forward, unseeing. "Naruto-kun, are you alright?"

To the side, Jiga laughed, "Don't bother! He can't hear you anymore. I've used my jutsu to interfere with the electric current within his brain. He can't even think at the moment, much less move." Smirking evilly, he continued, "That little brat has caused me a lot of trouble. I'm going to save him for later and finish him off slowly...after I deal with you."

Ordinarily, the elder ninja's threats would've terrified Hinata, but at the moment she barely even heard them, as she was too busy thinking. _Electrical currents? But I thought his jutsu was Magnet Style? Also, those particles he threw at Naruto, he gathered them off the surface of his body when he brushed himself off earlier. What's more, they're the same kind of particle as what's inside his body…_

All at once, several things came together within Hinata's mind. "Your jutsu…" she spoke, gaining the Janin's attention, "...it's not Magnet Style at all! Magnet Style ninjutsu is a combination of wind and earth chakra natures, but your justu's true form...is a modified lightning jutsu that you use in combination with the metal particles inside your body."

Jiga's eyebrows rose in surprise as he heard the girl correctly analyze his jutsu. For the first time, he turned and truly looked closely at the small female Leaf Ninja, noting her pale white eyes and the bulging veins surrounding them. "I see...those eyes," Jiga mused. "You must be part of the Leaf Village's Hyuuga clan, right? I've heard of you. Those special eye powers you have...the Byakugan was it? They allow you to see a great many things, even look inside a person." He snorted in passive amusement. "That's impressive! I'll have to remember that in the future...if I ever come across another of your clan."

Jiga continued, "As it happens, you're right. My real elemental affinity is lightning. I learned a long time ago, you see, that electric currents have the power to affect magnetic fields. So since I was very young, I've been ingesting large amounts of iron into my body. As a result, I discovered that I could use my lightning element chakra, in conjunction with the iron inside my body, to turn myself and anything I touch into magnets. It may not have the sheer attack power of some lightning style jutsus, but it's a lot more versatile and doesn't expend nearly as much chakra in the using. What's more, on a battlefield where shinobi are constantly using metal weapons, my jutsu renders me all but untouchable!"

Hinata listened carefully as the Janin described his power (it was fortunate that the rogue shinobi seemed to want to brag about his unique jutsu). The way the man described it, he made it sound as though his technique was invincible.

 _That's not quite true though,_ Hinata realized, _his jutsu actually has a critical weakness. He unintentionally just showed it to me. If I can somehow take advantage of that, there could be a way to stop him. But…_

The more Hinata thought about it, the more certain she became that the enemy's jutsu would be particularly vulnerable to a disruption in the chakra network. But the trouble was that doing so would require her to target her opponent's chakra points. Hinata's byakugan was by far the weakest in the Hyuuga clan, both in terms of range and perception. While she could clearly see the chakra pathways themselves, the chakra points, the three-hundred-sixty-one nodes that regulated the flow of chakra within the body, were still invisible to her. This meant that she was still precluded from using the most powerful aspect of the Gentle-Fist style, the ability to manipulate an opponent's chakra at will.

If she could just strike a single one of the enemy's chakra points, she was certain she could turn his own jutsu against him, but without even being able to see what she was targeting, she would be going in blind. It was true that she had studied her family's chakra scroll extensively, so she knew approximately where all the chakra points in the body would be, but the chakra points themselves were incredibly small, no larger than the tip of a needle. Even if she could see them, at her level hitting something that small with her gentle fist would be a challenge in itself. And add to that not even being able to see what she was striking...Hinata shook her head.

 _There's just no way! I'm too weak...Even if I tried I would just end up failing and losing everything…_

 _ **You're thinking too much!**_

Hinata started as Asuma-sensei's voice suddenly echoed in her mind, her thoughts travelling back to that moment after her first battle, only a few hours ago.

 _ **Every action comes with risk, but trying not to risk anything concedes the battle before it's even begun. You have to choose what risks to take. If you can't, it's not just you, your teammates will be placed in danger. If you risk nothing, you'll lose everything.**_

Hinata glanced to the right, over to where her teammate was kneeled on the ground. Naruto was still frozen, his eyes staring sightlessly, seemingly dead to the world. Subconsciously, Hinata's posture straightened. _That's right,_ Hinata thought, _if I don't do anything, I'll lose everything anyway. Man...I'm so stupid. I haven't got time to be worrying about failing right now. Naruto-kun's in trouble, and I'm the only one who can protect him. If I can't do that, I don't deserve to be his teammate. If I can't risk anything now, I don't deserve to even be alive!_

 _ **Know what it is you have to do...and decide what you're prepared to sacrifice to make it happen.**_

Lowering herself into a ready stance, Hinata prepared to face down her opponent. _For Naruto-kun...everything._

Seeing his opponent getting ready to continue fighting, Jiga quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, you're not going to try to run? Are you sure about that? Your teammate told you to get away."

Swallowing down her fear and self-doubt, Hinata prepared to move. "I...I'm not going to let you do whatever you want. I'll st-stop you!" Hinata's voice didn't sound very convincing, even to her.

Rolling his eyes, Jiga responded, "So, you're just as stupid and suicidal as your teammate. How ridiculous. I swear, there must be something wrong with you Leaf ninjas."

Ignoring the jibe, Hinata dug into her weapons pouch behind her back, taking stock of all her remaining tools. It would take every kunai and shuriken she had left, but she would make it work. Pulling out a trio of shurikens, she hurled them as hard as she could at the enemy, not caring at the moment about her accuracy. She immediately started running to her left, moving to lure her opponent out of the immediate clearing. For this to work, she needed to put as much distance as possible between her opponent and Naruto. As she ran, she pulled more and more weapons out of her pouch and hurled them haphazardly at Jiga.

Jiga snorted with derision as he easily fended off the genin's attack while following almost lazily behind her. Of the first three shurikens the girl had thrown, only one even needed to be deflected, which Jiga did easily with his kusarigama. The other two didn't even require him to dodge, as both went wide by several inches. The Leaf kunoichi's subsequent attacks were just as wild, only a few even coming close to hitting their target. _She's panicking,_ Jiga thought with amusement, _she can't even throw her weapons straight. Besides that, did she already forget that metal weapons are no good against me?_ Deciding to remind her, Jiga caught one of the incoming shurikens on his kusarigama, then sent it right back at her, propelled with magnetic force.

Hinata staggered slightly as the returned kunai grazed her upper leg, leaving a gash along her thigh, but dauntlessly kept going, throwing her weapons wildly as she ran. She just needed to draw him in a little farther, and she'd be ready. At long last, Hinata pulled her very last kunai out of her weapons pouch. Halting her retreat, she spun around to face her opponent and flung her final weapon straight at him.

Jiga swatted the kunai aside, as he had so many others. "Well, little leaf ninja," he said casually, "looks like that's your last weapon. What are you going to do now?"

Setting herself into a ready stance, Hinata stood her ground, "I...I'm not giving up! I _will_ beat you!"

Shaking his head pityingly, Jiga replied, "Come on, don't be a fool. It's clear that you're terrified. There's no glory in being a hero if you just die uselessly. I'll give you one last chance...tell me where the princess is, and I'll let you run away. You don't really want to die here over some princess you don't even know, do you?"

Hinata shook her head fiercely, "It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter that I don't even really know Princess Haruna. Naruto-kun was willing to risk his life in order to defeat you. If I run away now, I'd never be able to live with myself. Naruto-kun would never give up if he was fighting for me...so I'll do the same for him! Even if it costs me my life...this time I won't give up!"

Before Jiga could respond, there was a sudden thunderous bang in the distance, drawing the attention of both shinobi away from their fight. Off in the distance, about a mile away from where Hinata and the Janin stood, a large explosion lit up the night sky, briefly illuminating the dark forest and drawing the gaze of every living thing for miles around.

 _Wait...that direction is..._ Hinata thought, nervously.

For some reason, Jiga started chuckling when he saw this, before throwing his head back and laughing uproariously. "Ha ha ha...fair enough! It looks like I don't need your help anymore, anyway. That signal means that my men have found the princess. That means that I can wrap things up here and finally get back to business." Swinging his kusarigama in a circle, Jiga lashed out with it once more. "You should've accepted my generosity when you had the chance!"

Hinata once more dodged to the side as the ball and chain shattered the ground at her feet. This time Jiga swept the chain to the side, seeking to bring the flail around into his opponent's ribs or else tangle her up in the chain. Hinata evaded this strike as well by leaping over the chain, causing Jiga to pull the chain back toward him to prepare for another strike.

It was at this moment, though, that the Leaf genin made a move the Janin hadn't expected. As the chain passed through the air beneath her, Hinata suddenly reached out a hand and latched onto the chain itself, causing her to be pulled back along with it as the Janin moved to retrieve his weapon, sending her flying through the air straight at her opponent. As his weapon flew back toward him, with small kunoichi in tow, Jiga smirked, pulling his other fist back in preparation for a full-strength punch. _Alright...if that's how you want it._

Hinata soared through the air toward the waiting Janin. _One chance...I'll only get one chance at this!_ Hinata thought, mentally focussing on what she had to do.

Twenty feet away...

Time itself seemed to slow down as the target came closer and closer. All thought fled from Hinata's mind except for her one objective.

Ten feet…

All of Hinata's senses were focussed solely on the enemy. The world and her surroundings faded away as her entire world was reduced to herself and her opponent.

Five feet…

As her enemy came into range, something changed. Hinata's eyes focussed as they never had before, and there appeared, overlaying the Janin's chakra network, a tiny, infinitesimal pinprick of light.

 _Right there!_

Hinata stretched out with all of her might, reaching with everything she had for that small speck of light.

Jiga's massive fist buried itself in Hinata's stomach. With a great _whoosh,_ all the air was forced out of Hinata's lungs, blood and spittle flying out of her mouth as the attack landed home. Hinata doubled over, gasping for air as she tried to recover her breath. The pain in her midsection grew stronger with every breath, and she was fairly certain more than one of her ribs were broken. Her knees knocked together, and it was all she could do to just barely remain standing.

"Come on, now…" the Janin spoke in a lecturing tone, "...you didn't really think that was going to work, did you?"

Hinata struggled to speak through her lack of air and the pain in her abdomen, "It...it did...huff...what it needed...huff...to do…"

"Huh?" Jiga looked down, for the first time noticing that the genin's left hand had made contact with him, her two fingers poking into his side. Strangely, the spot she had struck seemed to feel almost numb. Still, it was far too small a strike to do any real damage. "Pfft...you did all of that, just for this? Is that supposed to impress me?"

Hinata tried to respond but found that she couldn't, the growing pain in her gut suddenly becoming too much. Before she could react, she suddenly bent over and, with a retching noise, emptied the contents of her stomach all over the ground before her...and right onto the Janin's shoes.

"Ugh…" Jiga growled in annoyance as he looked down at his vomit covered feet. The fact that he was wearing shinobi sandals that left his toes exposed made it even worse. "Disgusting…" he griped. Reeling his arm back he once more levelled a strong backhanded strike toward the small Leaf kunoichi, sending her flying away from him, to come to a slow rolling stop several yards away.

"Well, I suppose I should congratulate you," Jiga said snidely as the girl slowly picked herself up off the ground. "You managed to poke me in the side, and you got my shoes dirty. You can die being proud of those accomplishments at least. But now, it's time to put an end to this farce. I have more important business to get back to." As he spoke, Jiga once more gathered up his ball and chain and began swinging it, preparing for the coup de grace. The Leaf genin was just barely managing to remain standing, there would be no escape for her this time.

"It's over," Hinata spoke, just loudly enough to be heard by her opponent.

Jiga laughed, "On that much, we're agreed!"

Whipping the chain forward, he sent the flail careening toward the girl one final time. The spiked metal ball ripped through air, promising death to its intended target. It was at this moment, however, that Jiga first realized that something was seriously off. It almost appeared as though his kusarigama was slowing down as it approached the enemy. Indeed, even as he watched, the metal ball's speed through the air slowed to a crawl until, shockingly, it came to a halt in midair, mere inches away from the Leaf genin's face. Jiga blinked, staring at the strange sight uncomprehendingly, "What the hell?"

"It's over," Hinata clarified, speaking more clearly this time. "You lose."

Suddenly, the metal ball from his kusarigama began moving again, though this time in the opposite direction. The spiked flail was now heading right toward Jiga himself!

"Shit!" Jiga tried to dodge, leaping out of the way of the oncoming weapon. Incredibly though, the metal ball turned in midair, following after Jiga as though seeking him. Unable to escape, the object struck Jiga right in the center. This time, it was Jiga who had the wind knocked out of him as his own ninja tool impacted right into his abdomen.

Bent over, Jiga struggled to recover his breath. His attempts to do so were further hampered by something heavy weighing down his chest, making it even more of a struggle to breathe deeply. Looking down, Jiga saw that the spiked ball from his kusarigama had not yet fallen to the ground, but was somehow still stuck to his abdomen, hanging there in clear defiance of gravity. Reaching down, Jiga took hold of the metal sphere, attempting to pull it off of himself. The ball resisted his attempts to move it, pushing into him and remaining stuck where it was. What's more, as he pushed against the object he felt something poking him in the side and realized that the scythe end of his kusarigama was similarly stuck to him. _This couldn't possibly be...my magnet jutsu!?_ Focussing his chakra, Jiga attempted to deactivate his jutsu, but no matter what he did, the metal tools remained in place. "What the hell is going on?"

"Earlier, you said your jutsu renders you untouchable," Hinata replied, drawing the Janin's attention, "but that's not quite right. Your ability is actually a double-edged sword. Every time you activate your jutsu, you create a magnetic field within your own body. You're not able to affect the magnetism of other objects without becoming a magnet yourself. What's more, the magnetic field inside you grows stronger the longer your jutsu is active. That's the reason that you have to shut your jutsu off every few minutes, and brush yourself off to remove the metallic particles that have accumulated."

Jiga's jaw dropped in surprise. He hadn't imagined that the girl had seen through his jutsu to this extent! "H...how…?"

Hinata, though, wasn't finished and continued talking right over him, "A moment ago, when I struck you, I sent a burst of my chakra into one of your chakra points, forcing it open. The chakra points regulate the flow of chakra within the body, so right now your chakra is running out of control. You can no longer turn your jutsu off, and the rate at which the magnetic field inside you grows in intensity has increased drastically as well. You can't make use of your weapons anymore because the magnetic field inside you is overwhelming any other magnet you can create."

Jiga stared at the Hyuuga girl quietly for several seconds, before suddenly chuckling, "Alright, alright...I suppose I have to give you credit for that one. You managed to disarm me and prevent me from using my jutsu. Bravo. Still…," at this Jiga became serious again, glaring at Hinata in annoyance, "it's not going to be enough. I'm more than strong enough with my bare hands to crush you like an insec…"

Something stabbed into the back of Jiga's shoulder, catching him off guard and sending spikes of pain shooting down his back. Glancing quickly over his shoulder, Jiga saw a kunai buried in it, blood from the wound beginning to stain the back of his shirt. Spinning around swiftly, the Janin attempted to detect whoever had attacked him. Who was it? Had the other Leaf genin somehow escaped from his genjutsu? Or had one of the others from earlier somehow caught up and come to help? He hadn't detected a presence behind him, so he was extra wary.

Before he could detect any other opponents, however, Jiga heard the familiar sound of flying shurikens from off to his left. Turning, he saw two of them flying toward him from that direction. He attempted to dodge them, but was struck anyway as the spinning weapons changed course in midair to come after him.

"I told you, didn't I?" Hinata spoke once again, "The magnetic field inside you is becoming stronger every second. As it grows, more and more metallic objects will be attracted right to you. And we're currently surrounded by metal. I made sure of that."

Jiga's eyes widened as he suddenly understood. Looking around hastily he realized there were kunai and shurikens all around him, lying on the ground or buried in tree trunks, the very weapons that the girl had thrown around seemingly haphazardly earlier. As he watched, the weapons all began moving toward him, flying through the air and picking up speed as they got closer. First one, then five, then a dozen. The next thing Jiga knew, a swarm of kunai and shurikens were flying toward him from all directions.

Jiga swore as he mounted the only defense he could think of. Using all of his strength, he managed to yank his scythe blade away from where it was attached to his body and attempted to use it to deflect as many of the weapons as he could. This strategy proved mostly fruitless, as every weapon he knocked away simply spun back around after a few feet and came right back toward him. In the end, Jiga was forced to focus simply on keeping the weapons from hitting any of his vital areas, and gritted his teeth in pain as the rain of metal weapons slammed one after another into his arms, legs, and torso.

After several agonizing seconds, the stream of weapons finally slowed and stopped. Jiga stood in the middle of the clearing, breathing heavily, knives and shurikens sticking out of him from every angle. As if the pain wasn't excruciating enough already, it felt as though the weapons were actually digging further into his flesh, the magnetic field that drew them pulling them even further in. Slowly, Jiga reached down and yanked the first kunai out of his body, laying it back down such that the flat of the blade was pressed against his skin, rather than the edge or the point. Next, he did the same for a shuriken that was sticking out of his shoulder, and then another. One by one he pulled the weapons out of his flesh, ignoring the spurts of blood and flashes of pain that accompanied each extraction.

At long last Jiga was able to remove the last weapon, laying it flat against his skin as he had with all the others. He could still feel them all pressing into his body, the magnetic field still seeking to pull them even farther into him, but at least they were no longer digging into his flesh point first. When he finished he simply stood there for a moment, bleeding freely from a dozen wounds all over.

After a moment he slowly raised his gaze to look again at his opponent. His expression was pure murder as he looked down on the small kunoichi that had dared to hurt him. "You...little... _bitch!_ " he ground out, taking a step toward where the girl still stood. His vision was clouded with rage and pain, but he pressed forward, regardless. "I am going to make you _suffer_ for that like you can't even imagine! First I'm going to _break_ you, not enough to kill you, just enough to keep you still. Then I'm going to bring your little orange friend back and kill him slowly in front of you. Then I'll do the same with all your other teammates, and maybe even the princess too. Then...then I'll start getting _creative_ …"

" _No, you will not_!" Hinata shouted, speaking with more anger than she ever had before. Pure white eyes flashed with righteous fury as she raised her gaze to meet her enemy's. "You are never going to hurt me, or Naruto-kun, or anyone ever again! My attack...still isn't finished yet!" Raising her right hand up before her, she created a hand seal and sent out a burst of concentrated chakra.

"Wha…?" Jiga looked down as he heard what sounded like a sizzling noise below him. Belatedly, he noticed that the hilt-wrappings of several of the kunai were different from the others and that they were smoking slightly. All too late, he realized that these kunai were wrapped in explosive tags. Jiga's fury vanished in an instant, replaced with an unfamiliar emotion. For the first time that night...for the first time in a long time...Jiga felt fear. "W...wait a second…!"

Hinata's posture straightened where she stood. She threw her head back so she could glare down her nose at her opponent, her expression a picture of regal disdain and contempt. "You _should not_ have hurt Naruto-kun!"

"WAIT…!"

There was a bright flash…

...and Jiga of the Janin thought no more.

* * *

Naruto's return to consciousness was not quite the same as waking up after having been asleep. There were no lingering dreams fading from his mind as his awareness of the world returned. He was vaguely aware that some time had passed and he had been sitting in his current position for a while but was unable to really summon any memories of what he had been doing. The last thing he recalled was raising his arm to defend himself from Jiga's last attack, and yet that felt as though it had happened some time ago. His heart rate had long since slowed and there was no longer adrenaline rushing through his veins. His mind told him that he should still be prepared for danger, but his body had relaxed from its state of readiness for a fight. The jarring dissonance between the two left Naruto considerably off balance.

Of course, with the return of consciousness came the return of pain. All at once his mangled right arm reminded him of the damage it had suffered, as a lance of pain worse than anything Naruto had ever felt shot through him. As if that wasn't enough, his headache also returned with a vengeance, his brief hiatus from thought having done nothing to relieve it. Without the adrenaline keeping him going, the pain was all the worse. Naruto doubled over and moaned as his mind tried to come to terms with his body's current agony.

After a while, Naruto was finally able to get control of himself again. Standing up, he looked around to check what was happening in the area. There was no one else but him in the clearing, and the forest around him was strangely silent. It seemed as though all the local wildlife had fled, and thus the usual sounds of night in a forest were completely absent. Also, it seemed to Naruto that there was a strange amount of dust in the air. Perhaps most notable, though, there was a slight orange glow coming from somewhere just ahead of him, emanating through the trees a short distance beyond the clearing he now stood in.

With nothing else to do, Naruto decided to walk toward the source of the light. Even wounded as he was, It didn't take long for Naruto to reach said source. Emerging into another clearing, Naruto found himself looking at a shallow crater, maybe 20 feet across in diameter. The orange light was coming from several small fires where leaves or underbrush had caught flame, no doubt caused by the same explosion that had created the crater. There was a queer smell in the air, that for some reason reminded Naruto of the smells that often came wafting out of Yakiniku Q, Chouji and Asuma-sensei's favorite barbecue joint.

Before Naruto could observe anything more about the place, he heard a familiar voice calling to him, "Naruto-kun?"

Turning to his left he saw Hinata walking slowly toward him, more bruised than before and clutching her abdomen, but otherwise seemingly okay.

"Hinata! You're alright!"

Hinata nodded, "I...I was just coming to look for you. Are you okay?"

Naruto shrugged, then cringed as the motion caused a spasm of pain to shoot through his right shoulder. "I've...been better," Naruto answered honestly, "but I'm okay. I always heal pretty quickly, so I should be fine. Never mind that...what happened to the enemy? Did he get away?"

Hinata shook her head slowly, not meeting Naruto's gaze. "No...he's gone. I...uh, he…" she nodded over towards the crater in the earth a few feet away.

Naruto looked over at the crater once more, this time noticing that there were shattered weapon fragments all over the clearing. Also scattered about were several still smoking objects, throwing off the strange smell Naruto had noticed, earlier. Something in the back of Naruto's mind warned him not to look at these objects too closely.

Slowly turning back to his teammate, Naruto spoke in wonder, "You...you got him? I mean...you won!?"

She nodded again. Hinata explained briefly how she had turned the Janin's jutsu around on him.

"That's incredible Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed, genuinely amazed. "I thought we were done for after I got taken out of the fight, but you beat him all by yourself! That's really something else!"

Hinata blushed, "I...I just got lucky…"

"Who cares?!" Naruto laughed off the girl's objections. "Even if you could only win against him one time out of a hundred, the fact that you won means that you were skilled enough to make that one-in-a-hundred chance happen. Gotta say, you're really amazing sometimes."

In spite of herself, Hinata let out a small smile, blushing even harder. Despite how serious the situation had been and still was, she couldn't help but feel elated at Naruto's praise.

"Ha, you know, when we meet back up with the others, you should totally shove this in that jerk Haruna's smug face," Naruto joked.

Instead of laughing, though, Hinata sobered instantly, as she remembered a detail from her earlier fight. "Oh, right...Naruto-kun! Just now when I was fighting that man, I saw a signal flare go up in that direction," she said, pointing off to the northeast in the direction of a rocky area where a series of ravines cut through the earth. "The enemy said that it was a signal that his men had located the princess!"

Naruto's eyes widened, "Oh crap, really? That's not good...Yurinojou's guarding her alone right now."

"Wh...what should we do?" Hinata asked.

Naruto shrugged, "What else? We gotta go help."

"But...but Naruto kun…" Hinata protested, "Are you sure we're in good enough condition to help? Maybe we should wait for Asuma-sensei and the others to catch up…"

Shaking his head, Naruto replied, "We can't do that. We don't know when Sensei will catch up. The fight back at the camp could still be going on for all we know. And besides...we can't just leave Yurinojou all alone. We've still got a job to do."

"But...you're…" Hinata looked over the many injuries that Naruto had sustained, particularly at his mangled right arm, which still hung limply at his side.

"Don't worry about me," Naruto said, pulling out a kunai with his left hand. "I can't use jutsus anymore, but I can still fight a little. Just do me a favor and watch my back, okay?"

Hinata looked at Naruto worriedly for a moment, before slowly nodding her head, "Al...alright."

"Okay then," Naruto stated, turning to look in the direction Hinata had indicated earlier, "where exactly did you see this signal go up?"

Hinata pointed toward one of the ravines off in the distance, "I'm pretty sure it went up from that big ravine over ther…"

Hinata cut off suddenly, not finishing her sentence, her eyes drawn toward the trees off behind Naruto. Before Naruto could even ask, he suddenly heard the sound that had apparently drawn Hinata's attention: the rustling of foliage that marked someone or something moving swiftly through the trees. An instant later the worst possible scenario played out before them, as a pair of the Janin's henchmen emerged from the forest and landed in the clearing.

For a split second, everything froze. Both sides stared at one another, the two rogue shinobi apparently as surprised to run into the Leaf genin as they were by the other's arrival. The moment was broken just as suddenly when the two criminals reached swiftly for their weapons.

"Run!" Hinata screamed, turning to dart into the treeline and away from the two enemies.

For his part, Naruto didn't hesitate to follow after his teammate. Much as he had been planning on rejoining the fight in some capacity, he had hoped to do so on their terms. He recognized that attempting to fight the two enemies in the open at this point, with the injuries that he and Hinata had sustained, would likely be suicide. Even as the two moved to disengage, kunai and shurikens thrown by their opponents began to slice through the air around them.

As they broke through the first layer of trees, Naruto spotted a small stone outcropping a few meters away that looked like it might offer them some cover. "This way!" he called to his teammate, leading them toward the potential refuge. Hinata wasted no time in following after him.

They were only a few feet away from their intended concealment when Naruto heard Hinata call his name. Before he could respond, Hinata suddenly shoved him from his side, sending him staggering off to his left. Unfortunately, the shove had come from his right side, jarring his injury and sending mind-numbing pain searing through his crippled arm. Naruto's mind went fuzzy for a moment as he struggled to keep moving in spite of the pain. Somehow or other, though, he managed to keep going long enough to jump over the rocky outcropping, landing on the other side of the rocks and leaning against them for cover. Hinata landed next to him a second later.

Naruto wanted very much to ask his teammate why she had run into him, but at the time it was all he could do to stay standing. He stayed there for a moment, leaning against the stone, clutching his right arm in his left, careful not jar the appendage any more but desperately willing the pain to subside.

As the pain slowly cleared from Naruto's mind, he became aware of words being spoken in the distance. The two rogue shinobi were talking to each other, loudly enough that the Leaf genins could hear them, even from where they hid.

"They ran off over that way," one of the enemy ninjas said to the other. "Think we should go after them?"

The other shinobi replied quickly, "Nah, it doesn't look like the princess is around here. That first explosion we saw must have been the real signal. Looks like this one was just a diversion."

As Naruto listened, a few pieces of information came together in his mind, and he started to get a clear picture of what must have happened. From the sound of it, the two had been heading toward the signal Hinata had mentioned earlier that marked the position of the princess. Along the way, they must have seen the explosion created by Hinata's fight with Jiga, and come to investigate.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered to him, her voice sounding somewhat urgent.

"Shh!" Naruto shushed his teammate. It sounded like they weren't going to pursue them any further. Unfortunately, though, it also sounded like the two were going to head right for the princess. Naruto strained to hear the rest of the criminal nin's conversation.

"Are you sure about that?" the first shinobi spoke again, questioning his comrade. "If this explosion was a diversion, what's all this stuff then?"

"Huh,...you're right. It does look like somebody bought it in this blast here…"

"Hey wait, look at this. Isn't that…"

"That's...Jiga-sama's kusarigama! You...you don't think…" the man spoke with rising shock.

"They got him? Those kids?!" the other replied, equally surprised.

Meanwhile, back behind the stone outcropping, Naruto heard Hinata whisper to him again, "Naruto-kun…"

Naruto was about to hush his teammate again, but something about the tone of Hinata's words caused him to think better of it. Her voice sounded oddly weak. Naruto had just turned to face her, when Hinata suddenly collapsed forward, her body going limp. Naruto reached out quickly and held his teammate up with his good arm. He was about to ask her what was wrong but didn't get the chance. As his arm wrapped around Hinata, his hand came into contact with something wet. Slowly, carefully, Naruto turned Hinata around so he could see behind her. What he saw caused his mouth to go dry. There, sticking out of Hinata's jacket, were the hilts of two kunai knives, their blades buried more than half their length into her back.

"Y...you're alright…" Naruto stammered, having just enough presence of mind to still keep his voice low. "...you're alright…" His voice cracked a little. It was an obvious lie, but Naruto couldn't think of anything else to say, shock driving away his common sense. The back of Hinata's jacket was already turning bright red, her blood soaking through the fabric.

"You'll be okay...I'll, uh…" Naruto's mind reeled. Desperately he tried to get a handle on his thoughts. He needed to do first aid, he was certain of that much. But...what exactly did he need to do? With a cringe, Naruto remembered...the days when they had studied first aid at the academy, he had only half paid attention. The information hadn't seemed like anything that was going to help him become the strongest shinobi in the class, so he had alternated between listening and thinking about other things, like his next big prank.

Panicking, Naruto struggled to remember anything he could. He was pretty sure he needed to put pressure on the wounds, but he wasn't certain what to do after that. Didn't he need to put bandages on the wounds? Should he take the knives out, or leave them in? In his current state, he struggled to grasp hold of even that which he did remember. All he could think about was how Hinata must have shoved him out of the way of incoming fire, and gotten hit in his place. The vague memory of Iruka's droning lecture about human anatomy and how best to deal with puncture wounds seemed to become fuzzier the more he tried to focus on it.

 _Damn it, damn it, damn it!_ Naruto screamed internally, panic gripping him. _Why didn't I pay attention in class? Why am I such a stupid_ _**idiot**_ _?!_

For some reason, Hinata was still trying to speak, "Naruto-kun...I…"

"Shh! Hush...I've got you," Naruto whispered urgently. He knew that she desperately needed to save her strength right now. Easing her down, Naruto slowly laid Hinata across his lap, careful not to brush against the kunai and potentially make the girl's injuries even worse. He needed to think about where to start putting pressure. Biting the inside of his lip, Naruto belatedly realized that with only one good arm he would only be able to pressure one of the injuries at a time.

"Naruto-kun…" In spite of his orders, Hinata still continued to talk, even attempting to turn herself over in his lap so she could look at him. "I...I wanted…"

"Don't talk!" Naruto hissed.

Finally, she turned herself enough to face him. Her eyes were slightly clouded, but even so, she still managed to find his eyes with her own, those deep white pools capturing his gaze once again. She whispered, her voice becoming quieter and weaker with each word, "I wanted...to see you...become...Hokage…"

Seemingly having used the last of her strength, Hinata's eyes fluttered closed.

Naruto stared down at the girl in his arms. A short distance away, the two rogue nins continued their conversation.

"What should we do about this?" the first one asked. "We'll have to report this to Renga-sama and Ruiga-sama. What do you think they'll say?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about them," the other replied. "Knowing those two, they'll probably have a good laugh about it. Still, they'll want to make sure that whoever did it is dealt with...so we should probably go after those two kids."

"More like one," the first shinobi responded, smirk evident in his tone. "We got that one little bitch pretty good. If she's not dead already, she will be soon enough. We can just follow the blood trail right to the other one."

"Assuming he hasn't abandoned her already. If he's smart he'll leave her behind. There's no sense in risking yourself over someone who's just dead weight."

"True."

Carefully, as gently as he could, Naruto laid Hinata down on the ground.

His headache had completely vanished, gone like a distant memory. The enemy ninja's words echoed loudly in Naruto's thoughts.

 _ **If he's smart he'll leave her behind.**_

Ever so slowly, Naruto stood up, not caring if he accidentally exposed himself to the nearby enemies.

With an audible pop, his right arm slid back into its shoulder joint.

 _ **If she's not dead already, she will be soon enough.**_

His arm emitted grinding and cracking noises as the bones fused themselves back together. All of his wounds vanished one after the other until his body was in near perfect condition once again.

His hands curled into fists, fingers clenched so tightly his suddenly elongated fingernails drew blood, but Naruto didn't feel any pain. He didn't feel anything anymore. All his emotions, his fear, self-loathing, despair...all were sucked into a black hole in his heart from which emerged a deep, all-consuming rage.

 _ **I wanted...to see you...become...Hokage…**_

Naruto's world turned red.

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 _A/N:_

 _Thanks as always for reading. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review. Even just a few words are highly appreciated._

 _Uuuuuuuugggggghhhhhh… This chapter did not want to be written. To be perfectly honest, I'm still not 100% satisfied with it, but I know I need to go ahead and move on with the story. I know I'm not updating with anything approaching consistency, but I do still plan to continue writing this story at least through the Chunin Exams._

 _This chapter contained a whole lot of fighting, and not just a little bit of brutality. I recognize that some of this is a bit darker than is typical, but for my part this is what I believe shinobi combat really would be. It's life or death, and the main characters aren't going to escape without blood on their hands. This all ties in to what I have planned for each characters development. I plan to fully deal with the fallout of all of this in future chapters._

 _Anyway, on to the notes for this chapter._

 _(1.) One of the major things that caused this chapter to take so long was the major fight of the chapter between Hinata, Naruto, and Jiga. From the time I decided to do the Land of Greens arc I knew I wanted to include a version of the Hinata vs Jiga fight, which is one of the best in the original series filler arcs. I really like it because it perfectly displays the strengths of the gentle fist style (the ability to turn an opponent's jutsu against them) and gives Hinata a great chance to shine using it. Actually getting it out proved to be another thing altogether, though._

 _This fight went through multiple versions. At first it was basically just going to be the same as what happened in the show, but for one thing this did not fit very well given the differences in the scenario, and also I decided that I wasn't comfortable just rehashing the show. I thought the conclusion I came up with for the fight was pretty neat, accomplishing what the original did while accounting for the fact that they are not currently in an iron dust pit, though I worry it might still be too close to the original. Let me know what you thought of it and the fight as a whole._

 _(2.) Almost all of the jutsus used by the flower ninjas were taken directly from the show, though some were renamed (as the jutsu names they use in the show are really terrible). The sole exception is, of course, the_ Dance of a Thousand Petals _, which just a variation of the flower shuriken jutsu. I think I gave enough of a description in the story itself, but let me know if it needs more or less detail. For the sake of this story,_ Bloom _is the Greens Country version of_ Ninja Art _, and is used as the precursor for all of their original techniques._

 _(3.) For the sake of this story, I am assuming that the jutsu used by Renga is, in fact, the same bloodline limit possessed by Haku. As to why their jutsus are so different: both Haku and Renga are entirely self-taught in the use of Ice-style. All the jutsus they use are whatever they themselves could come up with. As a result, their use of Ice-style is entirely different._

 _(4.) The Naruto Wiki specifies that Magnet Style is a combination of wind and earth element, and also specifies that Jiga's jutsu is_ not _Magnet style, though the effect is rather similar. All we know for sure about Jiga's jutsu is that he gained the ability after consuming copious amounts of iron in his youth, we are never told how this works. In the show, however, he does directly mention interfering with the electrical currents in Naruto's brain, via his_ Electromagnetic Illusion _jutsu. It was this that gave me the idea to interpret his technique as a modified Lightning Jutsu._

* * *

 _Anyway, the next chapter will be the last chapter for the Land of Greens arc. After that I plan to jump straight into the Chunin Exams, which I am very much looking forward to. We'll also check in with the other members of the rookie nine between then and now._

 _Hope you'll all stick with me._

 _Regards,_

 _MD_


	8. Red

**Ch. 8 Red**

* * *

Red.

The whole world was red. Everywhere he looked, everything, red. The sky was red. The trees were red. His enemies were red…

 _Not red enough,_ Naruto decided, _not nearly red enough._

He bounded over the rocks, in the direction that the smell was coming from, and darted forward. It felt right to run on all fours for some reason, his hands (claws?) digging into the dirt, giving him even more speed and traction. He entered the clearing, and there they were before him. The hateful ones. The ones who hurt her. The ones who made her red.

It was their turn...they needed to be red too.

The two turned to face Naruto immediately as he entered the clearing, hands swiftly drawing their weapons, but Naruto wasn't worried. Letting out a howl from deep in his throat, he bolted forward, toward the first of the two.

The enemy brought his weapon to bear, slashing his sword blade down to meet Naruto. Sweeping his hand up, Naruto moved to swat the weapon aside. The steel blade shattered like glass as Naruto's hand met it, the shards going flying and leaving the man holding little more than the hilt. An instant later Naruto's other hand swept the rest away, sending the remains of the weapon flying in the other direction, along with the man's arm up to the elbow. Before the enemy could do anything more than look at his missing weapon and the stump of his arm with shocked confusion, Naruto lashed out with a kick at the man's knees, snapping his legs like twigs. The man fell to the ground, and suddenly he was on Naruto's level, every part of him within easy reach.

Naruto slashed out with a clawed hand at the man's neck, causing his throat to explode with red. On some level, Naruto knew that this was likely enough, but he didn't feel like stopping. He struck his enemy a few more times for good measure, hands cutting deep gouges in the man's torso with every swipe. Each splash of red that he painted across the body sent a slight thrill of pleasant sensation running through the back of Naruto's mind. Not enough to assuage his fury, of course, but enough to make him know that he wanted more.

Finished with the first, Naruto turned to the other, to find that he was already leaving the clearing, dashing away through the trees. As his enemy vanished into the foliage, a new sound made its way to Naruto's ears.

 _Laughter._

Naruto's eyes narrowed. His fists clenched again, his whole body shuddering with hate. He was laughing! _Laughing!_ The one who hurt her was laughing at him...at _her!_ Laughing at her pain.

Naruto crouched down, his legs coiling like springs, hands digging into the ground as he prepared to leap. All at once he sprung, jetting into the trees in pursuit of his foe, laughter ringing in his ears as he ran through the darkened forest.

It didn't take him long to catch up to his prey. The man was running as fast as he could, but he couldn't match up to Naruto's speed. As he caught sight of his foe, the man was preparing to launch himself up into the trees, likely planning to leap from tree branch to tree branch in order to move through the forest quickly. Naruto put a stop to that plan immediately. As his enemy leapt up into the air, Naruto jumped after him, slashing at the back of the man's knees. Still in motion, the man soared up into the air, smacking against the tree branch instead of landing on it, before falling back to earth. He landed heavily on the ground, tumbling several meters until he crashed into a tree trunk and finally came to a halt.

Naruto slowly stalked toward the downed man. Even now, even after everything, the laughter still rang through the clearing. Naruto ground his teeth in rage. He would _give_ the man something to laugh about.

As Naruto approached, the man slowly pulled himself up into a seated position, his back resting against the trunk. His legs were bloody and bent awkwardly beneath him. It was clear he wouldn't be going anywhere. When Naruto stopped a few feet away, the man raised his head to look up at him, and Naruto finally got to look his opponent in the eye.

Naruto frowned. Something was wrong. The man's face was a rictus of fear. His eyes shone with terror and desperation. His mouth was moving, appearing to say something, but Naruto couldn't hear his words. Or rather, Naruto thought he heard a faint buzzing in time with the man's mouth movements, but it was distant and muffled, as though being spoken through water. Most importantly, though, the man was clearly not laughing. Neither his mouth movements nor his expression matched with the uproarious laughter that still echoed through Naruto's mind. But then, where was it coming from? Who was it that was laughing at this situation?

Naruto stopped short.

 _It's me,_ he realized, suddenly, _I'm...the one who's laughing. But...why? Why am I laughing?_

As Naruto stopped to try to think, his mindless rage slowly vanished, leaving only confusion and exhaustion in its wake. As Naruto calmed down, his senses returned as well. The redness faded from his vision, the world around him returning to its natural hues. Also, the roaring sound in his ears, that he had only just now noticed, faded too, allowing him to once again hear everything that had previously been drowned out.

"...Please...I'm sorry! It wasn't me, I swear!" a panicked voice pleaded.

Naruto looked down, suddenly remembering the crippled shinobi at his feet.

"What?"

"I...I-It...It wasn't me, it was Nishita! He's the one who hit your teammate, I was just throwing weapons around you to try to scare you off! I...I-I'm sorry, I didn't have a choice. Nishita was in charge...I wouldn't have done it if not for that...I swear...p-please…" the man begged pitifully for his life, his expression desperate and terrified.

Naruto stared down at the rogue ninja, saying nothing, but quietly regarding him for a moment.

He hated him...he knew that for sure. Even now, he wanted nothing more than to finish the man off. But, even as he glared down at him, Naruto realized that he couldn't. His overall pathetic demeanor and pleading aside, the fact was he was no longer a threat. The man's ruined legs meant he wasn't going anywhere under his own power anytime soon. What's more, it certainly appeared as though all the fight had gone out of him. Even though a part him still wanted revenge, another part of Naruto realized on some level that killing someone in this situation, in cold blood and completely defenseless, would be crossing a line he could never come back from.

Naruto shook his head slowly, still trying to clear his slightly muddled thoughts. "Shut up," he said to the man, speaking slowly, "shut up...I'm not going to kill you."

The wounded shinobi's face lit up, hopefully. "I...thank you! Thank you! You won't regret this, I promise!" he said, making an awkward bow from his seated position.

Naruto shook his head again, as though putting the whole situation behind him. "Whatever…" he said, beginning to turn away from the man. He had wasted enough time on the situation as it was, he needed to get back to something…

As Naruto was turning to move away from the man, he noticed something just on the edges of his peripheral vision. The rogue ninja's hand had slipped behind his back, using his bowing pose to reach for something behind him. Naruto wasn't sure how he had noticed, it wasn't usually like him to be so perceptive. Perhaps it was because he was amped up on adrenaline, or maybe some part of whatever had just been affecting him was still not through running its course. Either way, as he showed his back to the man and began walking away, Naruto focussed all his senses behind him. There he heard it, the sounds of someone discreetly sifting through a weapons pouch. Apparently, the man had noticed the change in Naruto's demeanor, and decided to try his luck, assuming that Naruto was vulnerable now.

Naruto continued to walk away, slowly, not turning around. His enhanced senses caught everything. The soft sound of steel against leather as the man pulled a weapon free. The slight shifting as he gave himself room to throw. The whistling sound of a kunai cutting through empty air.

Ordinarily from this distance, an attack would've been difficult to dodge, even if one knew it was coming. Despite this, in the next instant, Naruto did several things consecutively that he didn't know he was capable of. Bending casually to the side, Naruto allowed the kunai to fly right past him. Then, even as it was moving away, he reached up and snatched the kunai by the hilt out of mid-air, spinning it in his fingers into a throwing position. In a single smooth motion, he spun back around and flicked the kunai right back from where it came.

The other shinobi didn't have even a second to react. In the very next instant, the kunai buried itself up to the hilt in his right eye.

The enemy ninja didn't react. Didn't move or change his expression at all. He simply slumped and fell over on his side, his remaining eye still staring sightlessly forward.

Naruto stood there for a long moment, once more staring at the enemy shinobi. He was dead, that much was clear. His remaining eye was empty, completely void of any expression or awareness. A moment ago there had been a human being right there...and now, he was gone. Just like that. He was dead and Naruto felt...nothing. Not sorrow or guilt. Not victory or vindication. Just nothing.

Why? Why had the man attacked him when the battle was over? For that matter, why was any of this happening? All this fear and pain...why were these people so determined to cause harm to people who had never done anything to them? The caravaners attacked...the Greens Country shinobi forced to flee for their lives...Hinata hurt…

...Hinata…

Shifting all other thoughts aside, Naruto turned around and ran back the way he had come. He could worry about anything else later. For now, he had to get back to help his friend.

* * *

"Y-Yurinojou…" Haruna said, distress creeping into her voice, "Perhaps we should slow down a little…"

"We...we cannot do that, Lady Haruna," Yurinojou replied with obvious effort. Gamely he attempted to trudge on as best he could. "In this situation, it's especially critical that we keep moving forward as fast as we are able."

"But…" Haruna glanced down at Yurinojou's body. He was bleeding freely from a half dozen wounds ranging all over his body, including a particularly nasty gash across the side of his head which was bleeding so profusely that the blood had spilled all the way down the side of his head and neck and was currently soaking into the collar of his shirt. "At least we can take a moment to see to your injuries…"

Yurinojou shook his head. "Don't concern yourself with me, Haruna-sama. I can bear injuries like these easily enough. Besides, your life is far more important than mine. So long as you are safe, it doesn't matter whether I live or die."

Haruna cringed. She had said similar enough things herself recently, but for some reason, hearing Yurinojou say them back to her just felt wrong.

As it was, he had shown little enough concern for his own life in his fight only a short time ago. The two Janin henchmen shinobi had happened upon them as they were attempting to reach the other end of the ravine they were now in. Haruna had at first believed that she was finally, truly doomed. Somewhat to her surprise, however, Yurinojou had managed to hold off both enemies at once, even while protecting her, though he had received a few wounds for his trouble. At one point, she had fallen and cut herself on a sharp rock, prompting one of the enemies to throw up a kunai-attached explosive tag and detonate it straight up in the sky. After this, Yurinojou had surprised her again by suddenly launching a fierce offensive. Soon after, she had thought that he might go down as the two rogue ninjas delivered vicious injuries to him from both directions, including the wound on his head, but this had proved to be only a trap on his part to lure them both in close. A moment later both enemies had been torn to shreds as Yurinojou activated the _Dance of a Thousand Petals_ _jutsu_.

Haruna glanced at Yurinojou out of the corner of her eye. She hadn't realized that he even knew the _Dance of a Thousand Petals_ _jutsu_. It was considered to be one of the most advanced jutsus available to the shinobi of the Land of Greens. There were few who were able to use it, and she knew of none other than Kikunojou who were able to utilize it at such a young age. Thinking back, she suddenly recalled several times over the past few months witnessing Yurinojou returning home late, covered in small cuts and bruises. When asked he would only say that he had been hard at training. Clearly, he had been pushing himself to learn a more advanced jutsu than he was truly ready for.

Haruna didn't have to ask why he would do such a thing, she already knew well enough. Because of Kikunojou. Kikunojou had been born a year ahead of them, and what's more was considered a genius. Yurinojou was skilled, but had never possessed the raw natural talent of his friend, and so had had to push himself harder than anyone else to try to keep up. From the time they had been little that was how it had always gone. Kikunojou always surged ahead, and Yurinojou would beat himself black and blue trying to surpass his friend and rival.

When they had been young, Haruna had always relied on Kikunojou. But in her heart, she had always been cheering for Yurinojou...who always put his all into everything he did…

Haruna shook her head to clear away any extraneous thoughts. She hadn't thought about all that in a long time. She tried to forget everything else and refocus on her objectives, but found it increasingly difficult to do so. Much as she hated to admit it, something within her had begun to change. Whether it was the events of the past few days, the desperate situation they were now in, the words and actions of her foreign and domestic shinobi guardians, or maybe even the antics of that annoying brat Naruto, the carefully maintained walls she had put up between herself and everyone else had begun to fray.

Before she could think too much more on this, she suddenly heard Yurinojou whisper harshly to her, "Haruna-sama...get behind me!"

Caught off guard as Yurinojou spun around and swiftly drew his weapon, she asked fearfully, "What? What is it? Have they caught us again?"

Yurinojou didn't reply immediately, instead staring off into the darkness behind them. All at once he lowered his weapon marginally, raised a hand up next to his mouth and made a bird call. There was an instant of tense silence before suddenly a responding bird call came back to them.

Yurinojou lowered his weapon, relief painting his features, "They're back."

* * *

Asuma Sarutobi ran through the forest for all he was worth. Behind him, Chouji and Kikunojou struggled to keep up, but didn't complain regardless. They both understood as well as he did. They needed to reunite with their comrades...and they needed it yesterday.

Ruiga had proved to be more of a problem than Asuma had hoped. This time around the Janin had fought defensively, keeping well out of Asuma's reach and letting his summons do most of the attacking. What's more, he had kept his tonfa carefully protected this time, preventing Asuma from crippling him the same way he had in their earlier fight. Altogether this prevented Asuma from finishing the fight quickly. Given enough time, there was little doubt that Asuma could eventually hammer down the man's defenses, but that wasn't the issue. The problem was that the Janin was just playing for time, and he knew it. Any time that he wasted fighting this man was precious minutes that his students couldn't afford to spare.

And so, Asuma had had to take desperate measures, and finally pulled out his ultimate jutsu.

Asuma had been a shinobi for more than a decade and a half. He had personally fought in the Third Great Shinobi War and countless other, smaller conflicts. Over that time he had developed and mastered numerous powerful jutsus. However, no technique he possessed was as powerful as the one he had received from his old friend, Chiriku, his comrade from when he had been a member of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve. After the collapse of the Guardians following Kazama's failed coup d'etat, Chiriku had returned to his home at the Fire Temple, while Asuma had been forced to go back to his father in the Leaf Village. Before going their separate ways, however, Chiriku, as a sign of their enduring friendship, had taught Asuma how to use the most powerful jutsu utilized by the ninja monks of the Fire Temple, the appropriately named _Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder_.

Even after several years, Asuma was still nowhere near as proficient with the technique as Chiriku had been. He could still only control about half of the one-thousand spirit fists the jutsu gave one access to, and it was also incredibly taxing on his chakra reserves, limiting the amount of time he could use it. Regardless, even with these limitations, it was still more than enough for an opponent like Ruiga.

As soon as Asuma had activated the jutsu, the first series of fists had lashed out, destroying the spheres of water and dispelling all of Ruiga's summons in a matter of seconds. Another series of strikes had battered down Ruiga's defences. A second later Ruiga had been smashed into the ground as hundreds upon hundreds of ethereal fists had pummelled him into the dirt.

The youngest Janin had gone down, and hadn't gotten back up.

Immediately upon finishing his fight, Asuma had returned to the team's campsite to retrieve the other two who had been part of the rearguard team. He had arrived to find Kikunojou attempting to comfort a clearly shell-shocked Chouji. At the time Kikunojou had been trying to get Chouji to drink some water, and the rotund boy had been mechanically obeying. A quick glance around the area, the pile of bodies nearby, the hollow look in Chouji's eyes and the small pool of vomit near where he sat, told Asuma all he needed to know about what had happened. He would need to do something about this in the near future, it was important that he help his student process his first kills and put things into the right context.

Unfortunately, now was simply not the right time for that. There were still enemies around and the danger had far from passed. He could have a talk with Chouji after this was over, for the time being, it was more important that he simply get him up and moving. Cold as it might seem, the first lesson Chouji would have to learn was to put his emotions aside and focus on the mission.

Asuma had wasted no time in getting the other two moving, stating that he wanted to find Naruto and Hinata as soon as possible. Kikunojou, casting a concerned eye toward Chouji, had looked like he might object for a moment, but fortunately, the mention of his two teammates had been enough to temporarily snap Chouji out of his haze, and he had gotten up and prepared to move again without complaint. The three then immediately set off in the direction Kikunojou claimed to have seen a flare go up in the sky a short time earlier.

The three ran through the darkened forest for a while, alert for more enemies but not encountering anyone else along the way. Eventually, they arrived at a rocky area crisscrossed with ravines, and it was here that they finally encountered others of their group.

After a brief exchange of bird call signals between Kikunojou and his counterpart, they leapt down into the ravine and found themselves standing before Yurinojou and the princess. Yurinojou looked as though he had been through the wringer. In addition to the nasty head wound he bore, there were quite a few spots of blood staining his clothing, some of it clearly his, other most likely not. The princess seemed mostly fine, aside from being a bit dirtier and more mussed up than before. As it was, Asuma could spare only so much concern for either of them, as he was far more alarmed by who wasn't present.

Unfortunately, before Asuma could say anything, Kikunojou spoke up first, "Your Highness! I'm glad to see you're okay. Yurinojou, are you alright? What happened?"

Yurinojou shook his head and replied, "I'm fine. Two of them caught up to us. I got a little cut up, but I managed to deal with them."

"Yurinojou performed his duty admirably, though he shouldn't have had to do so much," Haruna said, stepping forward and looking back and forth between Kikunojou and Asuma. "What exactly went wrong? What happened to the plan? I thought the rearguard was supposed to keep the enemy distracted, yet they caught up to us so quickly…"

Asuma shook his head, "No plan ever survives contact with the enemy, your ladyship. As it is, something unexpected occurred. Some outside force intervened to disrupt our plan…" Asuma thought back to the strange glass creature that had appeared briefly back at the camp. He had been keeping a careful lookout since then, but hadn't seen the creature reappear as of yet. "Almost as soon as the decoy was destroyed, the Janin somehow learned of your true location. I managed to finish off one of the Janin, and Kikunojou-san and Chouji…" he paused for a second, before carefully continuing, "...managed to stop most of the enemy, but unfortunately we weren't able to stop the other Janin from getting away, along with about four of his men."

Yurinojou nodded, "That lines up with what we heard from Naruto-kun. I was able to take out two more of them just now. That only leaves two more henchmen...along with the other Janin…"

"Speaking of which," Asuma went on, finally getting to his primary concern, "where are my other two students? Why aren't Hinata and Naruto with you?"

Yurinojou and Haruna shared a nervous glance for a moment, before the Greens Country ninja responded, "A little while after we got word from Naruto-kun about the enemy's pursuit, Hinata-san spotted someone coming up behind us. The two of them told us to keep moving, and stated an intention of slowing the enemy down. They both moved together, so they seemed to have some kind of plan. We...haven't seen them since then, though…"

Asuma closed his eyes. Breathing in deeply, he slowly exhaled, calming himself as much as he was able. At the very least, it sounded like the two of them hadn't been moving recklessly. "I see," he responded evenly. "Did you by any chance establish a location to meet back up before separating?"

Yurinojou nodded again, "There's a large tree in an open area just beyond the end of this ravine. We agreed to use that as a rendezvous point. We were just on our way there, now."

Asuma nodded, "Alright then. In that case, we'll head there now, see if they maybe got there ahead of us."

"But...but Sensei!" Chouji spoke up, sounding alarmed. "Shouldn't we…"

"No, Chouji," Asuma replied firmly, "we're not going to look for them right away. We don't know exactly where they are right now. The only thing we know for sure is that they may be heading for Yurinojou's rendezvous site. If we go wandering around in the dark looking for them, we could end up missing them entirely. What's more, the enemy is still out there, so we could also end up putting ourselves into a worse situation. Besides, we still need to keep the princess moving toward the border. We still have a mission to complete."

Chouji looked conflicted. He nodded his head in understanding, but he still looked upset. Taking pity on the young man, Asuma stated, "We're just going there to meet up with them. If they don't show up, I'll go look for them myself while the rest of you continue toward the border. We aren't leaving them behind."

On hearing this, Chouji calmed considerably. He was honestly looking better overall than he had a short time ago, the urgency of the situation likely having taken his mind off of things for the time being. His eyes hadn't completely lost the haunted look in them, though.

With that, the reunited party got moving again, walking down the length of the ravine toward the East. Eventually the ravine opened up, and the group found themselves in the place that Yurinojou had described, a mostly open rocky area with a single surprisingly large tree growing out of the rock.

Unfortunately, they arrived to find the clearing unoccupied. There was no sign of Naruto or Hinata, and no signs that anyone had been there recently. Fighting down a rising sense of trepidation, Asuma called a temporary halt, stating that they would remain only long enough to see to Yurinojou's injuries. He had thought that Haruna might object to even this small delay, but the young woman seemed surprisingly receptive to the idea.

A few minutes later Asuma and Kikunojou finished patching up the last of Yurinojou's wounds. The young man now had bandages covering his arms and torso, along with one wrapped tightly around his forehead. He seemed mostly okay, though Asuma could tell he was exhausted, and probably a little light-headed from blood loss. Head wounds, in particular, always bled a lot. Not for the first time, Asuma wished that blood pills were more readily available. Unfortunately, though, they were rare and extremely expensive, and had become even more so in the years since Tsunade had left the Leaf Village.

"That'll have to do for now," Asuma said, tying the final bandage tight, causing Yurinojou to wince slightly. "Do you think you'll be able to move now, Yurinojou-san?"

Standing up, the shinobi from the Land of Greens replied, "Of course. I'm ready to go at any time."

Asuma nodded. "Alright then. In that case, the rest of you should get moving toward the border again. I'm going to circle back to try to find Hinata and Naruto."

"I'll...I'll help look!" Chouji suddenly spoke up, stepping forward.

Asuma shook his head firmly, "No, Chouji. You need to stay with the rest of the group. I'll handle this myself."

Chouji was undeterred, "But what about what you said before? You said they could end up coming here and we might pass right by each other while looking. At the very least, someone should stay here in case they end up coming."

"I'm going to leave a shadow-clone here in case that happens," Asuma replied. It would be a bit of a stretch with his remaining chakra reserves, but Asuma was sure he could do it. "Besides, a clone dispelling will alert me to come back more effectively than any other signal would be."

Chouji bit his lip, understanding, but clearly still not liking it. "But…"

Putting his hand on the young boy's shoulder, Asuma looked him in the eye, "The mission's not done yet, Chouji. Someone from our team needs to stay with the princess. I'm trusting you with this. You represent the rest of Team Nine. Do you understand?"

Slowly, the rotund boy reluctantly nodded, "Yes, Sensei." Turning around he walked over to stand with Yurinojou and Haruna.

Asuma turned to face Kikunojou. "Should we set up a point to rendezvous?" the elder Greens Country shinobi asked.

Asuma shook his head, "Just keep heading toward the border via the fastest route. I'll be able to find you one way or another. Listen, if I'm not back by morning, you should…"

Behind him, Asuma heard the clatter of rocks from within the ravine. Instantly, himself and everyone else was on alert. The two Greens Country ninjas both had their weapons out, and Asuma himself drew one of his trench knives.

Their concerns were alleviated a second later, when, in a flash of orange, Naruto landed in the clearing, face down and kneeling on one knee.

Asuma experienced a brief second of relief, "Naruto! I'm glad to see…" Asuma's voice cut off mid-sentence as Naruto slowly stood erect.

Red. The front of Naruto's body was stained red with blood, from his shoes to the whole front of his jumpsuit, and even a fine layer covering his face. But all that paled when Asuma's mind caught up to what Naruto was carrying.

There, in Naruto's arms, looking even smaller and more fragile than he had ever seen her, was Hinata. She hung there limply, unresponsive and unmoving. There was a kunai knife still sticking out of her back, and droplets of blood still dripped down, staining the ground the same color of red.

Naruto looked up at Asuma, his eyes shining with desperation, "Sensei...help…" was all he could say.

Asuma bolted forward, his training and years of experience taking over. Without hesitation, he began giving orders, "Lay her down Naruto, gently. Good, there, now step back."

"What should I do, Sensei?" Naruto asked, looking ready to help.

"Get out of the way," Asuma answered brusquely. "Kikunojou-san, can you…?"

"Yes," Kikunojou responded promptly, pulling out the medical supplies they had only moments ago been using on Yurinojou. He kneeled down at Hinata's side next to Asuma and prepared to assist him.

"Sensei, let us help…" Chouji said, stepping up to them, "We can…"

"Yurinojou-san!" Asuma called loudly. It was cold, but he didn't have time to deal with the boys right now.

Without hesitation, Yurinojou stepped up behind Chouji and Naruto and wrapped an arm around each of them, pulling them back and out of the way. The two boys struggled, but the Greens Country ninja was able to hold them in place.

Turning away from his other two students, Asuma placed all of his attention onto Hinata. Looking down, he saw that bandages had been crudely wrapped around the girl. Not so much for covering her injuries, it seemed, but more for applying pressure. It wasn't much, but it was something, at least. Taking out one of his trench knives, he began cutting away the girl's bloody jacket, splitting it open and moving it and the bandages out of the way, careful not to disturb her injuries. He did the same with the shirt underneath it. Beneath that, he saw that the kunai had severed the straps of a small, purple training bra, which he moved out of the way as well.

Asuma cringed as the extent of the problem came into view. Hinata's back was a bloody mess. Taking out his canteen, he spilled some water on the girls back to wash away some of the blood. With that done he was finally able to get a good view of his student's injuries. Looking down he saw that there were actually two wounds, one of the kunai no doubt having fallen out at some point while Naruto was carrying her. Both wounds were still slowly seeping blood.

 _Alright,_ Asuma thought, _I'll need to pack the wounds and bind them tightly in order to stop the bleeding. Trouble is, I'll have to remove the kunai first, which will make the bleeding worse for a while…_

Asuma put his hands on Hinata's back in order to apply pressure, and flinched as he did so. She was cold. Her skin was already cold and clammy, and starting to turn grey. Turning her head to look at her face, Asuma saw that she was pale as a sheet, and her lips were blue. Her breaths came in short, sharp gasps.

"This is bad, Asuma-san," Kikunojou muttered from next to him. "She's already gone into shock."

Asuma grit his teeth, "I know."

Putting his two forefingers to her neck, Asuma found that her pulse was rapid, her heart having increased its pace tremendously to try to compensate for the loss of blood pressure. Racking his brains for something they could do to improve the situation, Asuma kept coming back to one inescapable conclusion: they were too late. Hinata had already lost too much blood. Even if they completely bound up her wounds now, there was no replacing the blood she had already lost. An experienced medic may be able to set up a blood transfusion, or even better, give her a blood pill, but Asuma was no medic-nin. No matter what he tried to think of, he knew they were already out of options.

The icy feeling that had been resting in the pit of his stomach since the mission had first started to go awry now exploded outward, spreading a chill sensation throughout his being until it felt as though his whole body was encased in ice. In his mind, his memories flashed back to the Third Great Shinobi War, the Guardian Shinobi Coup d'état, and the night of the Kyuubi attack, remembering all the comrades, friends and loved ones he lost over the years, all the people he had tried to save, and failed. And now he was living that all over again, only worse this time. This wasn't just a comrade-in-arms, this was his student, someone who had been entrusted to his care. This was the crowning moment of all of his failures.

Standing off to the side, Haruna watched the scene play out before her. The girl was going to die, she was fairly certain of that. She didn't need any underlying medical knowledge to come to this determination. The grim, shadowed looks on the faces of her two shinobi guardians, along with guilt shining in their eyes, told her all she needed to know. Turning to look at the Konoha jounin who's services they had illicitly obtained, she saw that he was quietly and calmly going about his tasks, attempting to perform first aid with confident motions that bespoke consummate professionalism. But his eyes, too, shone with a look of desperation. The look of a man struggling his hardest against the inevitable.

Finally, Haruna looked over at the two boys who made up the other half of the Leaf Village team. The brat Naruto and the other boy, Chouji, were off to the side as well, being held in place by Yurinojou. Tears streaming down their faces, the two boys struggled against the elder shinobi's hold. Desperate to do something...anything...to help their friend, the two boys fought to break free. Their struggle was useless. Even if they could break free, there was nothing that either of them could do to help their teammate at this point, and Haruna suspected that the two youths knew it, as well. But they couldn't accept it, and so they continued to struggle.

Unbidden, a memory suddenly surfaced in Haruna's mind. The day she had been forced to leave Greens Country. That day, years ago, when she had been taken away from the only home she had ever known and forced to travel to a foreign nation, from which she would not be able to return for many years. As the carriage had carried her away she had tried her hardest not to look back. Though scared and lonely, she hadn't wanted to show any fear to the foreign nationals who had been escorting her. In spite of her determination, though, as the carriage had pulled away, she had given in to temptation just once, and looked behind her. In the distance, a small crowd of people stood in front of the stairs leading to the royal palace, watching the carriage take her away. Standing at the front of this crowd she had seen her father, looking sad and miserable, surrounded by his grim-faced shinobi guards. Various other retainers stood around them, their expressions ranging from sad to humiliated to angry.

And there, off to the side, had been two young boys, her childhood friends, being held in place by elder shinobi. Tears streaming down their faces, they struggled to break free, trying to run after her, desperate to do something...anything. There was nothing that either of them could have done, but they had tried, anyway.

She thought she had forgotten that day. No, rather, she had deliberately repressed it. The memory had been too painful to recall.

When she had finally been able to return, years later, she had kept everyone at arm's length, including the two of them. Or she had tried to, anyway. Yurinojou and Kikunojou had taken up roles as her bodyguards once more, staying by her side the whole time, accepting any abuse she sent their way without comment or complaint. She figured it was because they felt guilty for failing to protect her all those years ago, ridiculous as that was. They had just been kids too, at the time. It wasn't like it had been their fault. The strong used others however they wished, and the weak had to suffer being used. That was just how the world worked. It was terrible, but she had learned to accept it, and she had decided long ago to be one of the users, instead of one of the used.

Haruna looked down at the girl again. She looked very small, lying on the ground there. The young kunoichi had always been on the petite side, and now, lying there next to Kikunojou and the hulking form of her sensei, she looked positively tiny. _How old is she, anyway?_ Haruna thought, _Twelve...thirteen maybe? The same age I was when everything happened. Was...was I that small, back then?_

All at once, Haruna realized something. She hadn't accepted it. She hadn't accepted it at all. The way the world was...the way the innocent suffered the depredations of the strong...she hated it. She thought she had come to terms with it, had prepared herself to do whatever was necessary for her own sake. But now, at this moment, she realized that she couldn't accept it...wouldn't accept it. The world may be cruel, but that didn't mean she couldn't fight it.

"Yurinojou," Haruna spoke, turning to her younger bodyguard, "give it to them."

Yurinojou blinked, the two genin in his grip falling still for a moment as they all turned to look at the princess, "Your Highness? What do you mean?"

"Give _it_ to them," Haruna said again. "The slug woman's gift. I know you have it."

"I...my lady…" Yurinojou stammered, before lowering his voice to just loud enough for her to hear, "We...we were saving that in case…"

"I know," Haruna replied, "but they need it more, now. It can save her, can't it?"

"It...it might," Yurinojou confirmed, "but it could already be too late. If we end up wasting it…"

"Yurinojou," Haruna said firmly, "this is an order. Let them use it on her."

Yurinojou finally relented, and nodded his assent, "Yes, your highness." Looking down at the two genins in his arms, he spoke again, "I'm going to let you both go now. Please, stay still for a moment." Releasing the two boys, Yurinojou began digging through his supplies. Naruto and Chouji, quiet for the moment, stayed still and watched, sensing that something important was happening.

By this time, Asuma was listening carefully to their conversation. "What's going on?" he asked, looking at Kikunojou, "What is it they're talking about?"

"Something that may help," Kikunojou replied, carefully. "Something that was given to us many years ago, by a woman named Tsunade."

Asuma's eyebrows shot up. _Tsunade?! That's right...they mentioned her name before, so I knew they had met her...she gave them something...but what?_

Asuma's question was answered a moment later when Yurinojou pulled a small, rectangular container from out of his jacket. Popping the container open, he revealed the contents to be a small bottle filled with blood red liquid, and a syringe. Stepping forward, he spoke, "Asuma-san...our lady has ordered us to give this to you. We were saving it in case the princess herself became badly injured, but please use it on your student."

Asuma looked up at the substance, warily. In spite of his desperation, his knowledge of the woman in question led him to be cautious. "What is it, exactly?" he asked, "How did you come by it?"

Kikunojou responded, "Many years ago, the nations bordering ours were struck by a great plague, a virulent illness that struck down old and young alike. Hundreds were killed by it. The people of the Land of Greens lived in fear, terrified that the disease would make its way to our country as well. And sure enough, a few people became sick and began showing signs of the plague."

Picking up the story, Yurinojou continued, "That was when she showed up...a traveling healer named Tsunade. She fearlessly quarantined herself along with the infected, taking care of them, keeping them alive and enabling them to endure the disease. Also, in a very short period of time, she was able to create a vaccine to prevent the disease from spreading any further. Thanks to her, the Land of Greens was spared from the ravages of the plague."

Kikunojou again spoke, "Our feudal lord, you can imagine, was very grateful to her for her swift actions. Though she had asked for nothing in return, he in gratitude immediately paid off all of her gambling debts in the nation, which were...considerable. He also invited her to stay in the palace, which she did for a few months. During that time, the three of us spent a great deal of time with her, and became rather close. She was a strange woman, but she was kind to us. I think she became rather fond of all of us. In any case, before she left, she gave us this. She called it the 'Edge of Life Serum'."

Stepping forward and pressing the container into Asuma hand, Yurinojou finished, "She told us that it was designed to help someone who was on the verge of dying. Apparently, it hyper-accelerates the body's ability to produce new blood cells, enabling a person to survive even after losing a great deal. It also greatly enhances the body's own natural healing processes. By itself, it won't completely heal someone, but it will keep someone alive for much longer than they would otherwise." The ninja from Greens Country looked Asuma in the eyes, "Asuma-san...this may not fix everything by itself, but it could keep her alive long enough to get help."

Asuma stared into the man's eyes for a moment, before looking down at the object in his hand. _So that's the whole story,_ he thought. It explained a lot of things. The story as a whole made sense. He knew that many years before, during the Great Shinobi Wars, Tsunade had single-handedly created the Leaf Village's medic-nin program, and pioneered many advancements in the field of medicine. During that time, she had invented blood pills, which had saved many lives by allowing a person to survive otherwise fatal blood loss. It sounded as though this substance was somehow an enhanced version of those very pills. It made sense that Tsunade would be able to create such a serum...but even so, he couldn't help but hesitate. His hope and desperation were tempered by his knowledge of the rest of Tsunade's story.

In the years since she had left Konoha, Tsunade had become a wandering vagrant, a drunk, and an incorrigible gambler. Certainly, when she was in her prime she could have created such a substance, but was that still true now? After years of aimless wandering, more than a decade after retiring as a medic-nin, had her skills not deteriorated at all?

Asuma looked down at Hinata once more, saw her body rising and falling weakly with each shuddering breath, and knew that he didn't have a choice, either way. Nothing else he could do would make any difference. One way or another, he would have to put his faith in his father's wayward student.

Removing both objects from the small box, Asuma inserted the syringe needle into the bottle and pulled out the plunger, watching as the bright red liquid filled up the barrel. Moving carefully, he slowly inserted the needle into one of Hinata's veins.

 _Alright, Tsunade,_ Asuma thought grimly, _we're only even here because of you in the first place. You got my students into this...you sure as hell better get them out, too!_

Pressing down on the plunger, Asuma watched as the substance disappeared from within the syringe, flowing directly into Hinata's bloodstream. Removing the syringe, Asuma carefully dealt with the tiny injection wound. That, unfortunately, was about all he could at this point. He went about putting the finishing touches on the dressings for Hinata's other wounds, but aside from that all he could do was wait. Wait and wonder. Would it be enough? Would the serum even work? Had they gotten it to her in time? Blood pills, he knew, took anywhere between five to ten minutes to fully go into effect. Would that be enough time, or were they already too late?

Before he even had time to really think about any of these questions, Asuma looked up when he heard Kikunojou gasp, next to him. "Asuma-san...look!"

Looking back down at Hinata, Asuma's eyes widened in shock. There, on Hinata's cheeks, the tiniest tinge of pink had appeared. Even as Asuma watched, color began returning to Hinata's face, the blue color slowly but surely disappearing from her lips. Putting his hand on her back, Asuma could feel her skin starting to warm up minutely. Her breaths were still shallow, but even now he could see they were evening out.

Asuma could scarce believe it. _It hasn't even been a whole minute yet, and it's already having this much of an impact?! Unbelievable! This is way more effective than a blood pill!_

"Sensei…" Naruto spoke up, inching around to try to see what was happening. Asuma had positioned himself between Hinata and the boys, to preserve her modesty a little. "...what's happening? Is it working?"

Asuma watched for another few moments, carefully making sure. Ultimately, there was no denying it though. "It's working," he confirmed. "She's getting better, for the moment."

"So...she'll be alright?" Chouji asked, his voice a mix of tension and desperate hope.

"She's not completely out of the woods yet," Kikunojou responded, "but we have time now. We should get her to a medical professional as soon as possible."

A wave of relief washed over the assembled group at the news. Naruto and Chouji finally relaxed, Naruto able to still his fidgeting, while Chouji all but collapsed to the ground, sitting down and letting out a deep breath. Yurinojou sighed with relief and looked gratefully over at Haruna, who simply closed her eyes and accepted the news without comment.

Asuma nodded. "I sent a request to Konoha earlier for reinforcements. With any luck, they'll send along a medic-nin as well. In the meantime, we should aim to get the rest of the way across the border. We'll hold here for a little while, wait for Hinata's condition to fully stabilize, then we'll need to get moving again." Asuma paused, looking over the remainder of the group, taking note of the exhaustion and injuries sported by each. Finally, his gaze settled on Naruto, whose bloodstained appearance was still a ghastly sight. "Naruto, are you hurt? Where are your injuries?"

Naruto blinked, as if caught off guard by the question, "Oh...I'm fine, sensei. I'm not hurt at all."

Asuma arched an eyebrow, "Are you sure? Maybe you should let me check...you look like you've been through the wringer."

Naruto shook his head, "I'm sure, I'm not injured at all. It's...not my blood."

Asuma looked his student up and down. It was true that Naruto appeared to be moving as though he was completely fine, but still. The blood aside, Naruto looked like he'd been hit by something. His clothes, in particular the sleeve on his right arm, were torn and shredded. It didn't seem possible that he could come through something like that without taking any damage. "I see...if you're sure…" Asuma said, "In any case, what exactly happened after you and Hinata got separated from the group?"

"Ah…well, you see…" Naruto then gave an abridged rundown of the series of events that transpired when he and Hinata had stayed back to delay the pursuit.

Asuma listened carefully as Naruto told his story, his eyebrows rising more and more as his student related the events. _Naruto was knocked out by a genjutsu...and then Hinata defeated one of the Janin by herself?_ It sounded unbelievable, but Naruto certainly sounded sincere as he told the story. It was during the next part that Naruto's story started to sound fishy. The part about them being caught off guard by the Janin's two henchmen and Hinata being injured was believable enough, but when Naruto got to his own part in the encounter, he suddenly became reticent. He didn't elaborate or say how he managed to defeat two enemies at once, he simply said he 'defeated them', and left it at that. As he said this, Naruto was looking off to the side, not meeting Asuma's gaze.

Asuma observed his student again through slightly narrowed eyes. It was clear that Naruto was concealing something about what had happened. To think he had defeated not one, but two enemies at the same time, when only yesterday he had faced one of their comrades one-on-one and been beaten. What's more, it was unlike Naruto to undersell his own accomplishments. Asuma was certain he wasn't the only one who had noticed, either. Kikunojou and Yurinojou were both looking at Naruto queerly, and the princess looked distinctly suspicious. Chouji, fortunately, seemed too distracted with trying not to look as Naruto wiped the blood from his face to notice anything else.

That was another thing...the blood, Asuma assumed, must have come from during his fight with the two Janin henchmen. _What exactly did he do to them? Did he go berserk after Hinata was hurt, and end up overdoing it? Is that what he's trying to cover up? Also, his lack of injuries…_

An alarm bell went off in the back of Asuma's mind. He suddenly remembered a conversation he had had with his father, immediately after being informed that Naruto would become his genin subordinate. _Enhanced healing ability...immense chakra capacity...the seal designed to leak...Could it be?_ Asuma wondered. He scanned Naruto from top to bottom, warily. He couldn't detect anything amiss at this point. He didn't sense anything untoward about Naruto's presence or chakra. If something had happened with the seal, it didn't seem to be affecting Naruto at this point. _I'll have to ask him about later,_ he decided, _he seems fine for the moment. I'll just have to trust that Naruto wouldn't willingly endanger us if something was wrong._

"I see," Asuma said as Naruto finished up his story. "Well you did the best you could, and you got Hinata to us in time, that's what counts. Now then…" he moved on before anyone else could question Naruto's account, "...it's time for us to get moving. Kikunojou-san, if you could, please help me get Hinata up across my back. I'll carry her the rest of the way."

"Are you sure it's necessary for us to move out right away, Asuma-san?" Kikunojou asked, "According to Naruto-san, the other Janin, as well as the last two henchmen have been taken care of. That accounts for all of the ones we saw in the clearing earlier."

Asuma shook his head, "We shouldn't assume that there aren't any more of the enemy out there. Besides, for all we know there could be other reinforcements already on their way." Asuma thought back to before. That glass creature he had seen in the clearing before Jiga had left still nagged at him. They had seen no sign of the creature since then, but even so… "Kikunojou-san, how far away would you say we are from the border now?"

The Greens Country shinobi thought about that for a moment before responding, "We're close, though there's still a fair ways to go. If we keep a good pace, we should get there by late morning."

"Good, In that case, let's get moving now," he said. Looking at everyone, especially Naruto and Chouji, he continued fervently, "It's just a little bit farther everyone. Let's push through to the end."

His students both nodded, determination briefly covering over the other conflicting emotions in their eyes.

As the rest of the group got ready to get underway, Asuma carefully wrapped Hinata in one of the "Leaf Village Moving Service" jackets that had been stashed away with their other supplies. After this, he and Kikunojou carefully lifted her up onto his back, Asuma gingerly hefting the girl to be as stable as possible.

With that done, the assembled shinobi and one civilian got underway once more, moving with all the speed they could muster toward the unseen border that still lay far off in the distance.

They were in the home stretch.

* * *

In the end, it took slightly longer than Kikunojou had predicted for them to reach the border. Their pace had been slightly slower than they had wanted, due to a combination of concern for stressing Hinata's wounds, the various injuries the rest of them had suffered, and Haruna's own exhaustion from trying to keep up with trained shinobi.

As it happened, they finally approached their final destination at midday, just as the sun was reaching its zenith.

"That's it," Kikunojou said, nodding at the scene ahead. "Just across this valley...that river there. Once we cross that, we'll be out of the Land of Greens."

The rest of the group looked at what lay ahead of them. Before them was a gently sloping valley, rocky, with sparse patches of grass dotting the ground here and there. On the other side, less than a mile away, was a small river. The waters of the river flowed slowly and looked shallow, more of a large stream, really. Asuma doubted that crossing it would even require the water-walking technique, which was fortunate since his genin still didn't know it.

Old instincts in the back of Asuma's mind advised caution. _Really open here...no good cover anywhere._

But there was nothing else for it.

Nodding, Asuma responded, "Good, let's move."

Stepping out from the treeline, the group pushed ahead, crossing the rocky valley toward their long-awaited goal.

The noonday sun blazed overhead, without a cloud in the sky to provide any relief, beating down on the already exhausted party. They were about halfway across the valley. All of them were sweating hard (especially Chouji) but pushed on without complaint.

 _Awfully bright out, today,_ Asuma noted. The scenery around him was brightly illuminated by the daylight. In fact, it almost felt like the day was getting even brighter and hotter even as he thought about it…

Asuma's instincts suddenly screamed at him to move. " _Scatter_!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, leaping hard to the side while keeping Hinata as steady as possible on his back.

Fortunately, the rest of the group responded immediately, Naruto and Chouji following him without hesitation, while Kikunojou and Yurinojou grabbed the princess and pulled her out of the way as well.

It was very fortuitous timing, as a second later a pillar of light flared into existence in the area the group had been standing in. As pure light seemingly coalesced on the spot, the dry grass caught fire and burned away almost instantly. The rocks under the pillar turned red, then turned white as the heat built up, before exploding as the heat became too much, casting blazing hot stone shards in all directions.

After a second of blasting down onto the ground, the pillar of light suddenly vanished, leaving a scorched, smoking crater where it had been.

"What...what the hell was that?!" Naruto called out, staring aghast at the burned ground.

"Let's regroup," Asuma called the others. "Don't stand too close together, though."

Slowly the group came together again, all of them looking around warily.

"Did anyone see where the attack came from?" Yurinojou's hand was on his weapon.

Chouji shook his head. "It was like it came from the sky!" he said.

Asuma had already checked above them. He didn't see anything in the sky, except for the too-bright sun. "I think we should keep moving," he said. "We're too close to stop now. Everyone stay on alert and be prepared to dodge."

Before they could resume moving, however, Kikunojou's alarmed voice cut through the air, "Asuma-san...there!"

The group turned to look behind them. There, walking sedately out of the forest, was a lone ninja. He was dressed in the now familiar green shirt and gloves, brown pants, and kilt-like wrapping they had seen on all of their opponents so far, except that he also wore a red-trimmed, purple vest over this, and the wrapping for him was white. His face was adorned with a trio of purple fang-shaped tattoos.

None of the assembled party needed to be told: this was the last Janin.

Asuma ground his teeth. _Dammit, we were so close!_

Kikunojou drew his weapon, "Everyone...keep moving. I'll hold him off."

Haruna swallowed heavily and pointed towards the forest, "I don't think that's going to be an option Kikunojou…"

"Oh, _come on_ ," Chouji groaned. "You've got to be kidding me…"

As they watched, the forest suddenly filled with activity. There, emerging from out of the treeline, was a continuous line of shinobi, all wearing the colors of the Janin's forces. The line of ninjas stretched halfway across the valley, with the Janin himself in the middle. Asuma estimated their numbers to be at least a hundred.

 _Looks like this last one has learned his brothers' lesson,_ he thought. _He's pulling out all the stops._

Asuma sighed. There was simply no way for them to defend against such overwhelming numbers, not on ground this wide open, anyway. No matter how quickly they took out their opponents, they would inevitably be surrounded and overrun. Their previous tricks had only just barely worked against a group of twelve, and back then they'd had time to prepare.

There was really only one option left: Attack. _If I can somehow take out the leader, that might discourage his followers and throw them into confusion. He's the last of the Janin, after all. Without him, they're just a pack of brigands with no cohesion. That's my best shot, anyway._

Aloud, Asuma called to his student, "Chouji...come over here and take Hinata for me, please."

"Ah...yes, sensei," the boy responded, coming over and carefully receiving his unconscious teammate from their commander.

Kikunojou glanced over at Asuma as the Leaf Village jounin readied his weapons. "Asuma-san, what are you going to…"

"You all need to keep moving," Asuma said, overriding the other man's words. "I'm going to go after their leader. The rest of you should make a break for the border. No matter what happens, keep running and don't turn back."

"Sensei, you can't!" Chouji shouted at his teacher, looking panicked.

"There's no way you'll be able to win," Yurinojou agreed, "You'll be overwhelmed and killed, even if you manage to reach the Janin. You can't just go in alone."

Asuma shook his head, "I won't be going alone," he said. Turning to look at his orange-clad subordinate, Asuma spoke, "Naruto...what's the absolute maximum number of shadow clones you can make at one time?"

Naruto looked up at his sensei in surprise for a moment, before his expression hardened. His eyes burning with determination, he slammed his hands together into a ram seal, "Let's find out!"

Closing his eyes, Naruto began gathering every last drop of chakra that he could summon up. Even as he did so, though, he became certain that it wouldn't be enough. With the amount of chakra reserves he had left, he could probably make a few dozen shadow clones, not nearly as many as he wanted for this. There was only one more thing he could do…

There was a darkness inside of him. He could feel it, as he drew on his chakra reserves. It had always been there, he realized now, buried deep down within his chakra. He had just never really noticed it before now. After the events of the previous night, however, it was no longer possible to be oblivious to it. That said, he now realized that he had felt this dark presence once before today. He had felt it on the night he became a genin, during his final fateful fight with Mizuki-sensei. At that time, he had felt a rush of power and had summoned an incredible number of clones. He knew that he needed that kind of power once again, but…

He was afraid. No, he was terrified of the darkness that lurked within him. He was afraid of what it was...what it meant...what it could turn him into. The memories he had of the previous night...didn't feel like him. It felt almost as though he had been watching his body act of its own accord, but at the same time, he had been in control. It had been him and not him at the same time...or more like he was becoming something else. He was afraid, but...

 _Everyone...Asuma-sensei, Yurinojou-san and Kikunojou-san, Haruna, Chouji...Hinata…_

They were all counting on him. No, they needed him. What he did could mean the difference between any of them living and dying. There was time for doubt now.

Steeling himself, Naruto reached for that place once again.

All at once, the world around him seemed to vanish. The heat of the sun and the feeling of the slight breeze against his skin disappeared in an instant, replaced by a feeling of coldness and damp. The sounds of his comrades nearby and the approaching army also vanished, and in their place there was near total silence, save for what sounded like water dripping in the distance.

Naruto opened his eyes...and found himself standing in a dank, dark, sewer-like tunnel.

* * *

For a moment, Asuma worried that he may have asked too much of his student. Naruto stood there, unmoving, for several moments, his eyes closed and hands held in a ram seal. Perhaps he was too tired, exhausted after the night and morning of constant travel and lack of sleep. Perhaps Asuma was taking his massive chakra stores for granted.

Before Asuma could worry too much on this, however, Naruto's eyes suddenly shot open. At the same instant, a wave of chakra suddenly burst forth, so thick and powerful that it was even visible to the naked eye as a blue glow surrounding the boy. Through the aura, it looked as though Naruto's normally blue irises had taken on a violet tinge.

Looking up, Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs, " _ **Multi-Shadow-clone Jutsu**_!"

An instant later, the air roared with sounds of hundreds of banging noises. All around them, clouds of smoke burst into existence, nearly filling half the valley and briefly obscuring their view of everything around them. The smoke dissipated quickly, as jutsu smoke always did, and when it was gone the mouths of the rest of the group fell open in shock. Standing all around them in every direction, there was a wall of orange jumpsuits. The Naruto clones surrounded them in a huge mass, clearly outnumbering even the approaching army of shinobi.

Asuma couldn't help but grin. _Damn, that's even more than I was expecting. There has to be at least three hundred of them, maybe even four hundred!_

Asuma smiled down at his subordinate, "Well done, Naruto. You did well, that's enough for now. Now I want the real you to retreat with the others. No buts!" he said, already seeing the reluctance in the boy's eyes and cutting it off at the pass. "I want you and Chouji to protect Hinata. Whatever it takes, complete the mission and get one another home. Do you understand?"

The two young men still looked reluctant, but nodded as one. "Yes, Sensei," they both said together.

"Good...I'm counting on you." Turning around, Asuma faced the enemy army once again.

Whatever their surprise may have been to witness another army appearing out of nowhere to face them, the rogue ninjas managed to recover surprisingly fast. Drawing their weapons, the host let out a deep roar and charged across the valley.

Asuma raised his voice so even the furthest clones could hear him, "Alright, all you clones, _with me_!" Dashing forward, Asuma charged to meet the oncoming horde.

Letting out a significantly higher-pitched roar, the assembled Narutos followed and counter-charged, several of them drawing kunai and shurikens as they ran.

The two armies drew closer and closer together, the very ground shaking from the pounding of hundreds and hundreds of feet.

As he charged amidst the orange throng, Asuma suddenly felt the heat on his neck begin to spike. Without hesitating he leapt to the side, getting out of the zone of the rising heat. "Dodge!" he called to the clones surrounding him.

Some of the clones were able to react in time and follow, but several more were not fast enough as the pillar of fiery light descended once again. This time the pillar did not remain stationary, either, but carved a path as it travelled along the ground, cutting a swathe through the host of clones. Asuma glanced up as the attack dissipated once again, but did not see anything above him. _Damn...where is that attack coming from?_

Asuma didn't have much time to think on it, however. As the two opposing armies drew to within a few dozen meters of one another, kunai and shurikens started to fly between them. A dozen or so clones were destroyed and vanished in the flurry of flying metal, and here and there along the line of dark-clad shinobi, one or two of their number staggered and fell.

A second later the two forces met, and the air became filled with the sounds of shouts and grunts of pain, metal clashing against metal, and the colliding of bodies.

The battle that followed, had it not primarily involved shadow clones, might have been called a bloodbath. Throughout the valley, the air was filled with the bangs of dispelling shadow clones, as said clones were struck down with weapons and jutsus and simple fists. The weakness of shadow clones, ultimately, was their fragility. It generally only took a single good blow to destroy one, and Naruto had not yet reached the level where his clones were skilled enough to avoid damage. As a result, though the foes they faced were not greatly more skilled than Naruto himself, the clones were defeated at a far higher rate.

That wasn't to say that the battle was completely one-sided, of course. Here and there across the battlefield, Asuma spotted gangs of clones dragging down isolated enemies in ones or twos, pummeling them down with fists or stabbing them with kunai knives. Regardless, Asuma knew that his time was not unlimited.

As it was, Asuma only had a few seconds to observe the surrounding battle in passing, as he ruthlessly cut down the first then second enemies who foolishly tried to impede him. Emerging from the fringes of the melee, he dashed toward the lone opponent who stood apart from the fray.

Renga smirked as the Leaf Village jounin approached him. "So...it's you, then, who will be my oppon…"

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know," Asuma snapped, interrupting. "You're Whatever of the Janin and you're going to destroy me. I heard it all from _both_ of your brothers. Can we skip to the part where we both try to kill one another?"

Renga chuckled, "Fair enough. Fine by me." Putting his hands together briefly, the Janin then thrust both of his hands forward, as though casting something, and...nothing happened.

Once again, it was only Asuma's instincts and years of experience that saved him, leading him to jump aside at the last second. Even so, something unseen sliced into his flak jacket, leaving a shallow cut along his abdomen.

Asuma cursed silently. _Great, so his attacks are invisible. Because this couldn't just be simple. I need to figure out the nature of his jutsu as quickly as possible._

With that in mind, Asuma focused his wind element chakra into his trench knives, causing them to alight with ethereal wind blades. Swinging his arms as though cutting into the air before him, Asuma launched his first jutsu, " _Wind-style: Rising Wind_!"

One after the other, two blades of wind sliced through the air toward the Janin, only to crash into something unseen an instant before reaching him. Though the attack didn't reach its intended target, it did leave a mark. Bizarrely, the air in the spot where the jutsu had ended had become distorted, as though someone had carved an 'X' into the very air itself.

 _As I suspected,_ Asuma thought, _his defences are invisible, too._

Even as Asuma watched, it appeared as though something liquid was flowing into the 'X' his wind blades had left in the shield in front of the Janin. A second later, the substance solidified, causing the spherical shield to become invisible once more.

"Ah...so that's your gimmick, huh?" Asuma said aloud, "It's not glass, but ice."

Renga laughed. "I thought you didn't want to talk?" he said, forming a pair of hand seals. "That's just the bare minimum, of what I can do, though…"

A second later, Asuma felt the heat on the back of his neck, once again. Daring to wait for a second this time, Asuma risked a glance skyward. This time, he saw something glinting in the sky overhead, as though something lay directly between him and the sun. Asuma was barely able to dodge this time around when the beam of light incinerated the rocks where he had been standing. As it was, he was pelted by white-hot shrapnel, causing some light burns across his arms when he went to shield his head.

 _I get it now...its a lens._ Asuma thought, _He's actually focussing the light from the sun into an attack, like a kid burning ants with a magnifying glass. Which I guess makes me the ant…_

Renga laughed once more as Asuma regained his footing. "Nice weather we're having today isn't it?" he taunted. "Bright and sunny, without a cloud in the sky."

Gesturing with his arms once again, the Janin sent another round of transparent ice shurikens flying toward Asuma, forcing the Leaf Village jounin to keep moving to avoid the unseen projectiles.

As he was dodging the invisible shurikens, Asuma tried to think of a solution. If he could just use the _Thousand-Armed Murder_ , he could probably batter down his opponent's defences and then pummel him into the ground, just as he had against Ruiga. The problem was with the enemy's light attack. If he stopped moving long enough to summon the Thousand-Armed Kannon, there was no doubt that the Janin would hit him with his most powerful jutsu. Unlike Ruiga's water spheres, there was no way to deflect or defend against an attack made of pure light. It was his fastest way to victory, but he would almost certainly die if he tried.

"Are you sure you want to fight this battle out to the end?" Renga asked, "You still have time to give up and run, you know. My only target is the princess."

Asuma glared at the Janin, still standing motionless behind his ice shield. "Don't get cocky," he snapped. "You haven't even close to beaten me, yet."

Smirking, Renga took his eyes off of Asuma, looking significantly at something in the distance. "I don't need to beat you," he replied evenly. "Time is on my side."

Hearing his words, Asuma glanced over his shoulder, and what he saw made him curse internally. The number of Naruto clones was already beginning to thin out. They outnumbered their foes by less than two to one at this point, which in this situation was not enough. Already a small cluster of the Janin's men had broken out of the melee and were proceeding to pursue the rest of Asuma's party, who were still fleeing toward the border. Hobbled as they were, the group from Leaf Village and Greens Country were unable to outpace their pursuers. There was little doubt that the rogue shinobi would catch up to their prey before they could cross the border. Even as Asuma watched, he saw Naruto and Yurinojou break off from the rest of the group, turning to face their pursuers and preparing to make a last stand.

 _No…_

Asuma panicked. There was no way the remainder of their party could stand up against the Janin's host. Even if they held off the first group, more were sure to follow in the next few minutes. If that happened, Asuma would lose everything.

In that moment, Asuma realized how little everything else mattered to him. The trio from the Land of Greens were good people, but his primary concern wasn't for them. He didn't care about his mission, nor did he give one whit for his own life. At that moment, all that mattered was protecting his students. The kids who he had taken under his wing and begun the process of teaching them to become real shinobi. The ones who relied on him, who he had sworn to protect at any cost. There was nothing more important, he realized, than that.

Suddenly, unbidden, a sequence of voices played through his mind, as from a record.

From Kikunojou…

 _ **For any parent...for any adult, really...protecting the next generation is always the most important thing. More so than any other duty…**_

...from his brother…

 _ **Everything I do, I do to protect what's most important.**_

...and from his father.

 _ **One day you'll understand what drives your brother forward. On the day you learn what it truly means to protect the king.**_

Had the situation been different, Asuma might have sighed and shaken his head at that moment.

 _Ah, man...am I really only just understanding that now? I really am the slow child in the family…_

Without another thought, Asuma began gathering his chakra. Stopping in place, he brought his left hand up in a half-ram seal, while his right hand extended down with his palm parallel to the ground, the stance for the _Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder_. It took time for the enemy to reposition and refocus the lense for each shot. As a result, there was about a second of delay between when he activated the jutsu, and when the pillar of light hit the ground. If Asuma went all out in that second, he could defeat the Janin before his jutsu hit. Of course, there would be no way for Asuma to avoid the jutsu when it did come, but that was acceptable.

 _Sacrificing a pawn is worth it to protect the king...guess I may as well live up to my own words._

Even as Asuma prepared to activate his jutsu, he saw the Janin's expression turn from a smug grin to a confused frown. Once again, though, it wasn't Asuma he was looking at.

Risking one more glance over his shoulder, Asuma saw what had gained his enemy's attention. There, moving across the battlefield at an incredible speed, was a blur of white. The white streak moved across the valley until it suddenly came to a halt almost directly between the fleeing party, and the host of the Janin's soldiers. As its movement stopped, the blur resolved into a white-furred, red-faced rhesus monkey.

Asuma's eyes widened in shock. _Kozaru-san!?_

The little white monkey stood his ground between the Leaf party and the oncoming rogue ninjas, calmly removing the object he had slung over his back. The summon animal had apparently exchanged his usual message-container for a large scroll, which looked almost too large for the small creature to carry. Opening up said scroll, he unfurled it onto the ground, revealing a complex seal pattern painted onto the parchment.

Slamming his paws down onto the edge of the seal pattern, Kozaru called out, his high-pitched voice carrying across the battlefield, " _Reverse-summoning Jutsu_!"

Immediately, an explosion of white smoke burst forth from the center of the seal. As the jutsu smoke slowly dissipated, all eyes across the valley were drawn to that one point, everyone waiting to see what would emerge from the cloud.

When the smoke finally cleared, it revealed a crowd of about thirty people, all of them wearing the signature flak jackets of Konohagakure. Standing at the front of the group, Asuma spotted a familiar figure carrying an oversized bo staff.

Lifting his weapon above his head, Gendo roared, "Shinobi of the Sarutobi Clan... _Attack_!"

With an explosion of movement, the Konoha shinobi dashed forward, wiping out the advance group of enemies and then wading into the melee of Janin subordinates and clones. The Leaf ninjas, all jounin and chunin from the looks of them, launched waves of powerful jutsus that devastated the enemy's ranks, and moved from opponent to opponent taking down their foes with consummate skill and professionalism. It quickly became obvious that there was a massive disparity in strength and ability as the elite shinobi of Konoha cut a path across the battlefield.

The battle that followed was even more one-sided than it had been before, but this time in the opposite direction. The men who followed the Janin on their quest for power all had base level shinobi abilities that made them a danger to most ordinary people, but at the end of the day, they were all mostly thugs, more accustomed to using their abilities against those weaker than them. Against a collection of chunin and jounin from a major village, they stood almost no chance at all.

Asuma turned his attention away from the battle and back toward his opponent, to see that the last Janin was moving once again. Renga, seeing the tide rapidly turning against him, went through the seal combination for his ultimate jutsu, hoping to turn things back around by obliterating these newcomers. It would require him to roast some of his own men, but so long as he won, it didn't matter.

Realizing what the enemy had planned, Asuma finally activated his own ultimate jutsu. Assuming the required stance once again, Asuma initiated the _Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder_. At once a golden light enveloped him, and the Thousand-Armed Kannon appeared behind him. Focusing with everything he had, Asuma lashed out with every single one of the five-hundred spirit fists he could control. However, instead of aiming them at the Janin, he instead sent every single one of them straight up. The _Thousand-Armed Murder_ was ordinarily a short-range jutsu only, however, by expending in a large amount of chakra, one could temporarily increase the range of the fists. Which is precisely what Asuma did. Dumping every last drop of his remaining chakra into the technique, Asuma stretched his spirit hands high into the sky, reaching with all of his might, until finally, the fists made contact with something solid.

With a crashing sound that could be heard even down on the ground, the spirit fists hammered into the invisible lens in the sky, blow after blow landing on it like a reverse rain. Within a few seconds cracks began to appear, spreading and growing into fissures. From down on the ground it almost looked like the sky itself was breaking. Finally, with a sound like breaking glass, the lens shattered, the ice that composed it melting, and then evaporating away.

Asuma, feeling drained, collapsed onto the ground. He had never used that jutsu in such a way before, and it had exhausted almost all that he had left. Unfortunately, this left him vulnerable to the still standing Janin.

Renga saw his most powerful jutsu being cancelled out before he could use it, and knew without a doubt that he had lost. Looking out across the battlefield, he saw his forces being routed. The vast majority had already been defeated, and most of those who were left were in retreat, scattering into the surrounding wilderness with Leaf shinobi pursuing them. He ground his teeth in impotent rage. Without his ultimate technique, there would be no salvaging this battle. He would most likely lose control of the majority of his men that remained, as well. He would have to start all over, this time without either of his brothers to help him. But there was nothing else for it, he would have to retreat for now. The sooner he got away, the sooner he could start building back up again.

But before he left, he could at least eliminate the architect of all his misfortune.

Looking up at the last Janin, Asuma saw the man spreading both his arms out, no doubt preparing another batch of invisible ice-shurikens. Defenseless as he was, he knew that there would be no way for him to either avoid or deflect the attack. With all his options gone, Asuma prepared to feel the barrage of missiles that would end his life.

Just before the Janin could launch his last, parting attack, however, another figure suddenly interposed himself between them.

With all the speed and strength of an elite Anbu agent, Gendo Sarutobi intercepted the enemy before he could finish off his younger brother, and swung his bo staff down with all of his might at the enemy. Renga, confident in his defences, didn't attempt to dodge the attack. Unfortunately for him, he severely underestimated the power of the bo staff-wielding man in front of him. So tremendous was the power behind the attack, Renga's ice shield was shattered to pieces in a single blow. Caught flat-footed, the Janin was unable to react when Gendo thrust his staff into the rogue shinobi's midsection, knocking the wind out of him and folding him over. With an easy spin of his weapon, Gendo slammed the other end of his bo staff into the back of his opponents head, slamming him face-first into the ground.

Gendo stood calmly in a ready stance for another moment, carefully watching his downed opponent for any signs of movement. After a moment of careful observation, he was confident that the enemy was down for good. With that done, he turned around to regard his brother, who was still seated on the ground.

Asuma, for his part, was still reeling from the whole turn of events, relieved, but finding it difficult to believe his good fortune at how quickly the situation had turned around. Looking up, he saw his brother looking down at him, expectantly. For a moment, both men were silent as they stared at one another. All around them, the battle that had been taking place was rapidly winding down. After several moments of silence, Asuma finally spoke up.

"I was like...two seconds away from doing that."

Gendo snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Of course you were."

* * *

Naruto stood off to the side, nervously hopping from one foot to the other as he watched the medic-nin work. Said medic-nin, a beautiful young woman with light-brown hair and gentle looking green eyes, stared down at her patient with absolute concentration, green healing energy flowing out of her hands and into Hinata's back. Naruto was incredibly anxious to know how it was going, but didn't want to disturb her as she was healing his teammate and friend. Chouji stood next to him, doing a slightly better job of containing himself, but only marginally.

It was still a bit jarring for Naruto, how quickly the situation had changed. Only a few minutes ago, he had been standing next to Yurinojou, watching as a group of enemies came bearing down on them, preparing to make their last stand and go down fighting. And now, here they were, not even paying attention to the battle anymore, as the sounds of conflict steadily died down. Teams of Konoha shinobi and clones were gathering together those members of the Janin's army who had surrendered, while others were breaking off to pursue those who had fled...Konoha shinobi who had appeared in the middle of the battlefield after being summoned out of a scroll by a monkey.

It was a lot to take in.

After a few tense moments, the medic-nin suddenly leaned back, the green energy flowing from her hands coming to a halt.

"Well?" Naruto asked anxiously, waiting for the medic to say something.

The pretty woman turned to Naruto and smiled, gently. "She's going to be fine," she said. "I've patched up the wounds on her back, and dealt with all of her internal injuries as well. She's well past the worst of it."

Hearing that, all the tension went out of both Naruto and Chouji's bodies. Naruto slumped in relief, while Chouji sank down and sat on the ground.

Naruto, much to his surprise, felt a stinging sensation in the corners of his eyes. He quickly wiped away any traces of moisture before saying simply, "Thank goodness."

Chouji didn't even try to hold back the tears that trickled out of his own eyes. "She's okay. We're all okay. We really...we really made it…"

The woman nodded, "She'll still need plenty of rest and time to recover, but overall she should be fine." The medic-nin cocked her head, looking down at Hinata quizzically. "Still...it's strange. Her wounds healed so easily. It's almost as if her body somehow doubled the effectiveness of my healing jutsus."

Naruto looked up at the woman. "Oh, yeah...she was given some kind of special medicine, made by someone called Tsunade..."

The woman's eyes widened in apparent shock. After a moment, she calmed and closed her eyes. "I see," she said, softly. "If it was something Sensei made, that would explain it."

"Sensei...?"

She shook her head, "Nevermind that. Do you have any injuries that need looking at, Naruto-kun?"

"No, I'm fine, I..." he paused, "How do you know my name?"

"Oh right, this is our first time meeting," the woman replied, with a touch of laughter in her voice. "But I've heard an awful lot about you, Naruto-kun. My son, Konohamaru, is a big admirer of yours."

Naruto's jaw nearly dropped in shock, "You're Konohamaru's _mom_?!"

 _No way! This lady's way too pretty and young looking to be a mother!_

Before Naruto could express this sentiment aloud, he heard the crunch of gravel of someone approaching, and turned to see Asuma-sensei walking toward them. Or rather, their commander was half walking, half being carried by another, shorter man, who strangely looked a lot like him.

"Oi, Kana," the shorter man spoke, "if you're done there, you should probably take a look at this one. He's half killed himself from chakra exhaustion."

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Asuma said as he was slowly lowered to the ground. Waving tiredly at his brother's wife, Kana Sarutobi, he greeted her, "Hey Sis."

She smiled and nodded to him, "Asuma-kun."

"Um, sensei..." Chouji spoke up from the side. "What happens now? What should we do?"

Before Asuma could respond, the man next to him replied, "Nothing, just rest and recover. The Sarutobi Clan will handle the rest of the situation from here. Your mission, as of now, is over." With that said, the man turned and started walking away.

"Hey Gendo," Asuma called after the man, causing him to stop. "I was able to protect the king this time...right?"

Gendo turned around. He stared at Asuma-sensei quietly for a moment, and then glanced over to Naruto and the other genin.

"Yes," he responded after a moment. "This time...you did."

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 _A/N:_

 _Thanks as always for reading. I really appreciate all the support for this fic, especially those that have taken the time to leave a review. I hope you all continue to enjoy reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it._

 _So, with this, the Land of Greens Arc is technically finished. Obviously, I still need to do a bit to wrap everything up, and that will be the main purpose of the next chapter. I originally intended to get to all of it this chapter, but this seemed like a reasonable place to stop for now. The next chapter will be wrapping everything up and dealing with the fallout of everything that has happened. It will be pretty important character development, so I hope you'll look forward to that. After that, we'll be leaving the Land of Greens behind for good, and I'll hopefully never have to write the name "Kikunojou" ever again (seriously, try typing it, it sucks)._

 _After that, I'll be ramping things up heading into the Chunin Exams. There'll be a brief intermission, and then we'll hopefully get right into it. Also, sometime in the next two chapters, we'll drop in briefly with the other two teams, to get an idea of what's been happening with them._

 _Before I get into the chapter notes, I'd like to address one thing I know some of you have been thinking about. I realize that over the last few chapters I've focussed pretty heavily on Asuma, somewhat to the expense of the genin. Hopefully, with the resolution of this chapter, you can all see why I've been doing that. A while ago, I was struck with an idea for a really cool character arc for Asuma, one that actually fit in quite nicely both with canon and with this particular story. I really wanted to complete this character arc for him by the end of the Land of Greens arc. For obvious reasons, Asuma will mostly step out of the story when the Chunin Exams start, so you can expect that starting now the story will focus much more heavily on the main three._

 _Anyway, onto the chapter notes:_

 _(1.) This chapter includes both Naruto's first use of Kyuubi chakra, as well as his first meeting with the fox. I apologize if some of you were disappointed by my skipping that meeting, but I decided it would be best not to break up the action too much. Also, the meeting does not differ significantly from what happens in canon. I will mention what happened in the next chapter, anyway._

 _(2.) Again, sorry to those who were expecting another Asuma vs Ruiga fight, but I figured I had covered that matchup enough in previous chapters, so a brief summary would be best._

 _(3.) Some of you were expecting that Tsunade would make an appearance in this arc, and in this chapter she sort of did. I went into more detail (even than the show did) about how Tsunade ties in with the story of the Greens Country Trio. I thought that this bit of backstory actually made a good bit of sense, and fit in nicely with the story. Let me know what you thought._

 _(4.) The_ Edge of Life Serum _, as I described in the chapter, is basically a souped-up blood pill in injection form, created by Tsunade. It also increases the effectiveness of healing jutsus and the body's own natural healing processes. My rationalization for the serums creation is that Tsunade's fiance, Dan, died due to blood loss on a mission, in spite of both blood pills and being directly healed by Tsunade. In the years since then, even while wandering around in her grief, Tsunade has always looked for ways that she might have saved Dan's life, leading her to create a substance even more powerful than the blood pills. The fact that the substance is an injection means that it can be directly injected into the bloodstream, and thus take effect far more quickly than a pill._

 _(5.) So in this chapter, I finally got to the climactic battle scene. I've been looking forward to writing this battle since I started the Land of Greens arc. Instead of the typical final boss fight, I thought it would be cool to end the arc with a large-scale battle instead. I realize it ended kind of suddenly, but I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you liked it._

 _(6.) Finally, I introduce another semi-OC, Konohamaru's mother and Gendo's wife, Kana Sarutobi. Like Gendo she is also a high-level ANBU agent, one of the "Hands of the Hokage", and a skilled medic-nin to boot. Just to be clear, when she called Tsunade "Sensei", that was not meant to imply that she was one of Tsunade's disciples like Shizune and Sakura. Rather, Kana is a veteran of the Konoha's medic-nin program from back when Tsunade was still in charge of it, and thus she was trained some by Tsunade herself. Though skilled, Kana's medical abilities are not on the same level as those three._

 _Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Have a great day._

 _Regards_

 _MD_


End file.
